ShareThis
Over the weekend, the Nintendo Entertainment System celebrated a milestone birthday: the company’s very first console has turned 30-years-old!
Debuting in the US on October 18, 1985, many pundits expected the NES to fail right from the start. The US video game market had suffered a severe crash in 1983, and many pundits expected Nintendo to fail just as Atari had. Landfills full of unsold copies of the Atari 2600 version of E.T. had left many unsure that there was still a market for video games in the US. Of course, high quality first party games like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid helped propel system sales, while third party developers like Capcom, Square and Konami debuted now-classic franchises like Mega Man, Final Fantasy and Castlevania.
The days of the NES have long since passed, but the system lives on in many different forms. The Virtual Console is home to plenty of classic titles from the system, while games like Super Mario Maker and NES Remix offer fans different (yet familiar) takes on those original games. The system also introduced a number of classic characters that have become ingrained in popular culture. After 30 years, the NES remains, unequivocally, the most influential video game console of all-time.
The video game industry has changed quite a bit since those halcyon days. Video games, once thought dead, are now a thriving, multi-billion dollar industry. It’s hard to believe that it might not exist at all today if not for a plucky Hanafuda card manufacturer from Japan.
What are some of your favorite NES memories? Let us know in the comments below!
Insert Duck Tales moon theme here
Favorite memories? Hmm, well it would be someone giving me one in 1987 with the door missing; but it had Mario and Duck Hunt and the light gun. All I had at the time was an old black and white tv to play it on, but the first time I saw Mario still is vivid in spite of the lack of color. It was a huge step up from the Intellivision and Atari I can tell you that, along with whatever else I had at the time. Now if only Nintendo would dominate again and crush the Playstation. Not going to hold my breathe though.