Satellaview

Founded in early 1990, St.GIGA was a satellite radio subsidiary of the Japanese satellite television company WOWOW Inc., based in Akasaka, Tokyo. 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". 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 and various compositions by Deep Forest, 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 and Nintendo 64. Nintendo had previously developed the Family Computer Network System peripheral for the Super Famicom's predecessor, the Famicom. Its lead designer, Masayuki Uemura, said that Nintendo's experiences with the Network System led to the development of the Satellaview. 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 ¥14,000, or US$150 (equivalent to $330 in 2025). Several third-party developers, such as Capcom, Taito, Konami, Seta, and SquareSoft, then announced plans to produce Satellaview games. The peripheral was designed by Nintendo Research & Development 2, 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 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 23. 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 to release a similar service for Windows, 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.

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, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, The Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario Bros. Nintendo's original games include Sutte Hakkun. EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi designed a fishing game called Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1. The previously unreleased Special Tee Shot, later reworked into Kirby's Dream Course, was released. Third-party games include SquareSoft's Radical Dreamers and Treasure Conflix, Pack-In-Video's Harvest Moon, 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, that allowed players to compete for prizes.

Alongside games, Satellaview owners could access many other different services. Free magazines included video game publications like Famitsu and Nintendo Power 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. 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.