Nintendo's Famicom Turns 20

Warrior-GS writes "GameSpy has been running a weeklong series of articles dedicated to the Famicom, which became the super-console Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States. The Famicom turned 20 on July 15th. The series covers everything from the birth of the console to the hardware to many of the classic games." This massive article is, indeed, both comprehensive and lovingly researched, and is well worth checking out.

Comments

I bought the Sega Master System instead

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember Nintendo's release in America, at the time it wasn't impressive at all. The graphics were on par with Colecovision and it seemed a no brainer to go with the Sega Master System(M.U.S.C.L.E. Wrestling vs Sega's Pro Wrestling was the deciding factor). Unfortunatly I made the wrong decision as I missed out on the Super Mario Series, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania ... Though I did have Phantasy Star which was the best game ever made for an 8bit console.

Come on kids!

[rylin]

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START!

*Cheat enabled: First Post*
/me hides

ah... famicon

[chadamir]

that means it was 20 years ago today that the first cartridge had to be blown in and shook around as not to give that flashing blue screen when you power on!

Re:ah... famicon

[Decaffeinated Jedi]

Here's the big question: what kid was the first to pioneer that technique? Every kid in America (and, I'd assume, Japan) somehow knew that blowing into the cartridge and shaking it around would magically make it work. Where did this knowledge come from? Or was it just instinct?

"Cartridge no work! Me shake now!"

My best friend's NES eventually deteriorated to the point that he had to cram a pencil into the deck to keep the cartridges from popping up. Can you imagine the consumer outrage if one of the modern consoles had these kinds of problems? I guess we were willing to tolerate a little more way back when.

DecafJedi

Re:ah... famicon

[Decaffeinated Jedi]

Another interesting question is how did cheats make it around?
Things like the contra 30 lives cheat.
I remember the kid who showed me, but who showed it to him?

I'd imagine that most of the cheats got out to the public through Nintendo Power. After all, everyone knew someone with a subscription to the magazine. I can't imagine Nintendo bothered to publish a how-to on the old "shake and blow" technique of overcoming the limitations of their flimsy hardware in Nintendo Power, though.

Did I just use the phrase "the old shake and blow?" Sigh...

DecafJedi

Re:Why is it called Famicom?

[rylin]

IIRC, It's "Family Computer" or something like it. http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/odd/scans/famicom.html

article lacks importance of famicom

[nsda's_deviant]

the article lacks the details of how great nintendo became because of famicom and how the famicom reinvented the game marketplace forever. Atari crashed the industry, Nintendo brought it back, Sega dented the industry, Sony dominated the industry and Microsoft is making the industry better (more competition is better). wether nintendo ever becomes the titan again will be questionable, now only if gamespy did an article about celebrating Nintendo creations. I always hope Nintendo will be remembered for their devotion to creating exceptional games, and creative applicaitons to games that no one ever pieced together (Zelda, the original Mario, evolution of Mario: raccoon mario!, Metroid) ... just my thoughts

NES games ported to SNES

[BrookHarty]

I stopped playing the NES with Super mario world was ported to the SNES. My kids love the older Mario multiplayer games more than the Xbox/Ps2. Fun to watch them play the same games you did at their age. Also fun to kick their asses and put those young whipper snappers in their place. ;)

Multiplayer Mario just keeps the older consoles alive, even with new GFX, mario world is just simple fun for both boys and girls. Nintendo never did reach that same level of non-gender fun for newer consoles. (IMHO)

I'm not saying the new console games arent fun, but they are mostly single player, or gender biased games. Mario party was a good try, but something seems missing.

Wonder how many hours people spent building excitebike tracks, and having friends race them. Seemed to be a popular thing at pizza parties.

Check out "Game Over" for a great history...

[Hollinger]

Go check out the book Game Over by David Sheff. I'm an avid Nintendo fan (ever since my original NES). I found a 2nd hand copy in a bookstore, and must say it's one of the best looks into the history of the company, the people behind the company, and the games themselves. I'd highly recommend finding a copy on eBay or Half.com or (if you actually leave your computer) at a 2nd hand bookstore.

The riveting story of Nintendo's conquest of the interactive entertainment industry offering true tales filled with cocky arrogance, confidence and international intrigue that rival any novel. Whether it is recounting the struggles over the game"Tetris," offering blow-by-blow narrative of Nintendo's bitter legal warfare or its see-saw competition with other companies for market leadership, Game Over is a masterful piece of business journalism and technical reportage - a book both cautionary and hugely entertaining.

Same choice, different answer

[Daetrin]

I remember my mom taking me to the store and letting me try out both systems, and trying to make the decision on which my parents would get me for christmas. (Funny, at the time i never realized there had been a crash in the video game market. I'd been happily playing games on my Colecovision which had an Atari 2600 adapter, and though the NES and Sega Master system were just the next step up instead of a revitalization of the entire industry)

The NES was demoing Super Mario Brothers, the Sega machine was demoing, um, a couple pieces of crap, there was maybe one of the games that interested me, but i forget which. The graphics seemed more impressive on the Sega, but Mario was more fun. I thought about it awhile, and got the NES, and didn't regret it.

A year or two later i got a Master System as well since they'd gotten cheap, and a few games for it as well. However every time i had the chance to get a new game, there was almost always something for the NES that outweighed anything i was contemplating for the Sega. The Master System ended up getting stuck in a corner and got pulled out for a brief period ever six months or so once it got moved into my bedroom.

I'm glad to say that for the most part i've managed to stick with making decisions based on the quality of the games (PS2, GameCube) rather than purportedly superior graphics but only one or two games worth playing (XBox, with Halo and Panzer Dragoon)

Although i wonder if i'd be any different today if i'd grown up with Phantasy Star and Sonic and um, wrestling games? rather than Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior.