It's 2011, Battlefield 3 just came out over multiple platforms, labelled by some as the ultimate multiplayer game. The PC version pushes into new boundaries when it comes to graphics and the console versions aren't half bad to look at either.
How easily it could have been different. In a moment not unlike the gentleman who didn't hire the Beatles based on the fact that "guitar bands were going out," Nintendo turned down the opportunity to have the original Battlefield exclusively for their Gamecube console because they didn't have the online strategy to sufficiently support it.
Which is an understandable reason I suppose, but so many what ifs surround this idea and it hurts my head just thinking about it.
This was revealed on a podcast for NintendoWorldReport and it is noted that this was probably a fairly routine pitch, a pitch that likely was made to each console manufacturer in turn.