Teleplay System

Accessory Program
Teleplay System
Made for: Sega Mega Drive
Manufacturer: Baton Technologies
Type: Network tool

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The Teleplay System, also known as the Teleplay Modem, is an unreleased Sega Mega Drive modem developed by Baton Technologies. Intended for a May 1993 launch (later pushed back to August) with a suggested retail price of $90, concern over the system's commercial viability and Sega of America's attraction to its primary competitor (AT&T's Edge 16) resulted in the virtually-completed accessory being scrapped entirely.

Hardware

The peripheral was designed to allow Mega Drive (or NES) customers to play each other over the internet using a specialised 2,400bps modem. The project was ambitious, claiming to allow cross-platform play and well support IBM PC AT-spec keyboards, without the approval of either Sega or Nintendo.

The Teleplay's most revolutionary feature is its support of cross-platform play, with the system reportedly having completed and fully-functioning live gameplay between its three supported platforms: the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Genesis, and the Super Nintendo. Baton Technologies' founder Keith Rupp recalls that at least three titles were finalized and ready for production by the time of the hardware's cancellation; this would have resulted in a total of nine separate UPCs (three cartridges per system), although contemporary advertising and modern research suggests that the Super Nintendo adapter may have never been realized. Despite this, his October 2003 Lost Levels interview provides a list of the company's staff, with a Dan Cervelli and Jeff Miller credited under "Super Nintendo development". A likely possibility is the completion of the games' respective Super Nintendo versions and compatible code, with the physical adapter being delayed until its hardware was finalized.

List of games with planned support

• BattleStorm (unreleased)
• Build-A-Better Dinosaur (unreleased)
• Combat Aces (unreleased)
• Order of the Talon (unreleased)
• Sea of Vengeance (unreleased)
• Siege & Sorcery (unreleased)
• Terran Wars (unreleased)

History

Development

In 1990, American engineer Keith Rupp first conceived of the Teleplay System as a means for gamers to play head-to-head against others from across the country over the internet. Recognizing the potential for equipping the then-dominant Nintendo Entertainment System with online multiplayer capability, he began the process of assembling a team (largely staff from fellow Arizona developer American Game Cartridges) and shopping the idea around to possible investors. One early investor introduced Rupp to Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari, who grew a strong interest in the hardware. With input from Bushhell, Rupp completed the first prototype. Initially known as the Ayota View, it first made an appearance at the 1992 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it was generally well-received.

As development progressed, Bushnell made the decision to limit the modem's speed to 300 bits-per-second as a cost-saving measure. However, this meant that the Teleplay could no longer viably offer real-time multiplayer, rendering the hardware only suited to "slower" titles like puzzle or strategy games. Additionally, Bushnell (already known in the industry for his questionable promises) only offered him a relatively-meager 5% of potential company profits, and strangely barred him for directly meeting with further investors. To complicate matters, Bushnell later pulled out of the project entirely, leaving its future uncertain.

File:MegaPlay US 0403.pdf In 1992, Rupp independently developed a new iteration of the hardware, largely by himself. Now known under its final name of the Teleplay System, this "final" revision boasted a respectable 2400 bits-per-second real-time connection, and even contained a connection for AT keyboard (the common standard of the era). Although the project was then progressing on the technical side, a lack of funding from investors forced Rupp to live and sleep at his office for much of the modem's later development, along with much of his team working significant overtime. However, the greatest hurdle to overcome would be the acquisition of an official development license. Both Nintendo of America and Sega of America charged third-party developers such a large sum to become licensed that Rupp found himself unable to build the funds for either purchase. This led to a situation where, despite established developers like Electronic Arts wanting to work with the modem during initial demonstrations, the deal would be cut short when "a suit would call higher up in the company and say they wouldn’t even consider making their games compatible with the Teleplay unless we were licensed."

In July 1993, AT&T announced its partnership with Sega of America and PF Magic to develop the Edge 16 modem, a remarkably-similar modem accessory. Boasting compatibility with the Sega Genesis and 3DO, and with the monetary resources of AT&T to acquire official developer licenses, Sega of America ultimately decided to focus their attention on the Edge 16. Video game preservationist Frank Cifaldi states, "whether it was because of Keith’s meetings with Sega, his conversations with third party developers, or perhaps a premature magazine interview done by one of Baton’s investors, it was fairly obvious that AT&T caught wind of Baton’s plans and took it upon themselves to capitalize on their ideas." Now that acquiring an official license was practically impossible, Rupp made the brave decision to carry on, regardless if the Teleplay was licensed or not - and hoping to beat the Edge 16 to market by some time. Rupp even planned intercompatibility with the Edge 16 to ensure the Teleplay could succeed by competing on price (and not game exclusivity).

Keith recalls that "I wasn’t afraid of AT&T, although my investors were." Despite having a $300,000 first order to fill and manufacturing in Shenzhen, China ready to begin, his investors got cold feet at the last minute and pulled the plug. "If we had just fulfilled our first order, we would have made back all the monies invested in Baton up to that point and made a small profit." Ultimately the modem would be left virtually completed and entirely unproduced, with three multi-platform games completed and also ready for manufacturing. Baton Technologies was forced to close its doors, with Rupp having to pay his company's remaining $40,000 payroll through his personal credit cards.

Prerelease

The Teleplay System was primarily advertised alongside Terran Wars - the first game announced for the system, and the intended pack-in game. Later, Baton Technologies announced an additional three titles which would form the modem's official launch lineup: Build-A-Better Dinosaur, Order of the Talon, and BattleStorm. Ultimately, due to Baton's financial issues in acquiring an official development license, neither the modem nor any of its 9 planned games were ever released.

Early promotional material for the Teleplay System features a markedly different vision for the hardware. The modem itself appears to have been intended as a loose, separate unit which plugs into the Mega Drive's controller port, with the image suggesting that a dedicated Control Pad would have formed the opposite end of the cable.

Magazine articles

Main article: Teleplay System/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #bg93: "1993 Video Game Buyer's Guide" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #41: "December 1992" (1992-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #43: "February 1993" (199x-xx-xx)
• GamePro (US) #44: "March 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
• VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) #50: "March 1993" (1993-0x-xx)

Print advert in Mega Play (US) #0403: "June 1993" (1993-0x-xx)

External links

• Spotlight: Baton Teleplay Modem article by Frank Cifaldi at Lost Levels