Retro Review – Nintendo Entertainment System
by Maggot on Apr.06, 2010, under RETRO Gaming
If you were a kid growing up in the 70′s, you can probably remember the Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision, Magnovox Odyssey and a slew of other systems. But in the late 70′s into the early 80′s, the big video game crash occured. Few companies came out less unscathed than others by the skin of their teeth, while others disappeared almost overnight. It would take until 1985 before a home video game console would revive the video game industry.
A Japanese company largely known for making playing cards started to dabble into the video game industry. First they started with the – now highly sought out – Game & Watch handheld LCD games. Then they moved on to electronic shooting games using a rifle and moving images projected onto a wall. But their next development would take the world by storm. With the help of engineer designer Masayuki Uemura, Nintendo introduced the Famicom in Japan in 1983. Often referred to as a toy, the 8-bit Famicom was a huge success in Japan. The Famicom saw arcade ports such as Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. just to name a few.
The Famicom
Seeing the success that Nintendo had in Japan, they decided to introduce it to North America. Nintendo entered negotiations with Atari to market the NES, but the deal turned sour. In summer of 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was here in the States. It was totally redesigned to aesthetically appeal to the American eye. The original Famicom was a top loading cartridge system and the controllers were hardwired into the console. The new NES design incorporated a slot insert for the cartridges and controllers that could be unplugged to allow other peripherals.
The Nintendo Entertainment System
While by today’s standards, 8-bit systems are rather archaic. But at the time that the NES came out, it was revolutionary. Also, since the cartridges contained more memory, better music and lengthy adventure games could be programmed into the ROM.
There was one hot selling point that brought success to the NES in America almost overnight – famed game creator Shigeru Miyamoto’s “Super Mario Bros.” The early systems were not bundled with this game, but later systems would be bundled with “Super Mario Bros.”, the light gun and “Duck Hunt”. Never had anyone seen a home game console with great graphics, music and intriguing gameplay. There were home computers such as the Commodore 64 that rivaled the NES, but the NES was cheaper and required no knowledge to operate it. Later classics would appear such as sequels to the Super Mario Bros. games, The Legend of Zelda, Castelvania, Contra and Metroid just to name a few.
The Nintendo went on to become the best selling console of its time. Many a gamer cut his/her teeth on the NES as their first home video game console. With an extensive library and setting a standard design for future gaming systems, the NES is a system that most retrogamers can agree holds a spot dear to their heart.
Game Over.
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