Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM,[1] Satellaview allowed players to download games, magazines, and other media through satellite broadcasts provided by Japanese company St.GIGA.

To use Satellaview, players purchased a special broadcast satellite (BS) tuner directly from St.GIGA or rented one for a six-month fee.

By 1994, St.GIGA was struggling financially due to the Japanese Recession affecting the demand for its music; Nintendo initiated a "rescue" plan by purchasing a stake in the company.

By 1998, Nintendo's relationship with St.GIGA was beginning to collapse due to St.GIGA's refusal of a debt-management plan and failure to secure a government broadcasting license.

[7] Several third-party developers, such as Capcom, Taito, Konami, Seta, and Squaresoft, then announced plans to produce Satellaview games.

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.

[6] 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.

[2] One year later, St.GIGA declared bankruptcy and merged with Japanese media company WireBee, Inc.[15] A Satellaview device attaches to the expansion port on bottom of a Super Famicom, similar to the 64DD or the Sega CD.

[1] A Satellaview device is packaged with a custom four-way AC adapter and AV selector, connecting the console to the required BS tuner.

[16] Players can create a custom avatar, purchase items found in stores scattered across the map, play minigames, read announcements by St.GIGA and Nintendo, and participate in contests.

[19] 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.

[6] The rise of technologically superior consoles such as Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64, made consumers reluctant to purchase Satellaview, especially due to its exclusive availability via mail order delivery or specific electronic stores.

Retro Gamer magazine applauded the peripheral for its technological achievements, providing an early form of online gaming years before the advent of services such as Xbox Live.

[10] Originally announced in 1995, a year prior to console launch,[25] Randnet had many similar features, such as a Nintendo newsletter and online gaming,[26] plus chat and email.

[29] Fans have created custom private servers that work with the official BS-X application cartridge, and translated certain games such as those from the Legend of Zelda series.

[30][31] In retrospective years, publications have raised concerns about the permanent loss of much Satellaview content, specifically live audio from Soundlink games and digital newsletters.