Nintendo NES, a 10 minute history.

[OwtDaftUK]

my first nes was a gameboy and a super ninendo. i had a mastersystem and my brothers amiga that was handed down to me but not the orignal nes.

[TeamRocketReviews]

There were video games in the period from 1983 to 1986. But it was computers like the C64 and the Atari 800, and it was the height of computer gaming in the US.

[TeamRocketReviews]

So is Boots sort of like a British version of Walgreens or CVS?

[IBeeMonkey]

Love the comment 'People didn't know what was a good game and what was a bad game'

Nothing's changed :D

[vwestlife]

Another thing worth mentioning is that Nintendo approached Atari in 1983 with an offer to license and sell the Famicom in the USA with the Atari name on it. But Atari was secretly already in contract with another company to design the console that became the Atari 7800, so they gave Nintendo the runaround and negotiations fell apart. So Nintendo went off on their own, while Atari was just going to cancel the 7800 until they saw the success of the NES and ultimately released it in 1986.

[stads24]

I have been a Nintendo fan since I was like 7 years old. I will always love NES and SNES. Never moved past these amazing systems. The games are so classic that I think they will probably last forever. Can't really say the same about a lot of the games today, but maybe that is just my opinion.

[colerock1423]

The nes is my favourite system ever

[Darkbeatdk]

Very informative!

[adog262]

Some of the old license policies for the NES are weird in today's standards. I couldn't imagine if Sony told their 3rd party companies to not produce a game for another system until 5 years later, lolz.

[SteveBenway]

Their policy made very good business sense, but got them into a lot of trouble. They wound up in court on anti-trust cases and suchlike.

[sparkybaz77]

Excellent review of the NES Steve, thankyou. Not really a fan of the early Nintendo and Sega consoles..i was obsessed with my Amiga 500 when friends were still playing with their NES and Master Systems..it always seemed like a dissapointing step backwards when i played on one. Hope all is good with the non smoking still? Keep the vids coming we all really enjoy them. Also i think its about time Retro Computer mag did an interview with you. :)

[SteveBenway]

The no smoking is going well, thanks. I stopped using the patches about 2 weeks ago, and am finally past the hyper-irritable phase, much to my wife's relief.

I totally share your feelings on the NES and MS. I tried to keep this video informative, rather than as something to express my opinion.

It wouldn't have gone down too well... "This is the NES, and it sucks"... lol.

Did you know the Retro Games magazine editor has a youtube channel now? RetroGamerDaz

[TeamRocketReviews]

@SteveBenway I watched your "Why I dislike the NES/Master System" video, and you stated that there are some games you do like on the NES. Could you name some?

[SteveBenway]

@TeamRocketReviews Dropzone and Marble Madness come to mind, and Donkey Kong is fun.

[TeamRocketReviews]

@SteveBenway You should really try some NES versions of games you like on other systems.

[bastardtubeuser]

sparkybaz, i share your sentiments, nearly everything i loved about computer games died with the amiga, all the music and humor went out the window.

the thought of watching a nintendo review pains me, but here i can be sure it takes the UK perspective into account, brilliant channel.

[TeamRocketReviews]

@bastardtubeuser I have say that the golden age of gaming ended in 1994 when the Amiga died. But NES was still one of the best home consoles, and even the Genesis and SNES were good too. It's with the PSX and N64 generation that gaming started to get stale.

[bastardtubeuser]

@TeamRocketReviews i agree with you, the NES had some absolutely fantastic games, perhaps the best. however with its huge commercial success came a never ending stream of reviews and merchandise that still rules today.

I miss the simplicity and immediacy of games, and the close relation of code to the hardware. you just dont get programmers now like they were then, some of the ideas are similar but the means are completely different technically.

[atombat]

I bet the Famicoms that were to be recalled but were never sent back are rare, and even though they crash are worth tons.

[thejoyofsticks]

Thanks for the informative review, Steve. The NES really was miles ahead of its competitors at the time, wasn't it? Before the Master System came out, its nearest competition was the Atari 7800, I mean, come on now...

I love the way that all it took to convince retail that NES wasn't just a video game system was a crappy plastic robot. Genius.

[SteveBenway]

The 7800 didn't come out till '86, so really, the only competition the NES had in the US was the 2600. It wasn't a huge leap ahead of the Colecovision, in terms of ability, but that'd already fizzled out in the gaming crash.

What the NES was though, was a very brave step, with clever marketing, that re-kick-started the console market in the US.

In the UK, while being reasonably popular, its late release made its relevance limited.

I totally agree about ROB though :)

[NintendoRagazza]

I like this. Awesome.

[TimeSplittA]

Nice informative rundown of the NES there.

I know you're not a fan of it however haha. But we have to appreciate its impact in gaming it in some way.

Good work Steve.

[Foebane72]

I wonder what % of NES games the AVGN has covered and called "crap"? Which means the rest must be good :D

[Rockythefishman]

Its good to see a Uk reviewer doing the NES. I know you were trying to remain neutral in the review however we all know you are not a big fan. When the US guys do a review they spend half the time talking about how it was and is the best thing since sliced beard. You are right about the home computer scene the 8 bit home machines were everywhere the the games were cheaper too. Under £2 for a budgit title. The NES games cost a lot more if my memory severs me right

[SteveBenway]

NES games cost around £25 - £30.

That seemed a reasonable price for games when the Atari 2600 was new, but seemed absolutely insane after everyone had gotten used to Spectrum game prices.

It was difficult trying to remain objective, but in the end, I didn't have time to fit in all the technical and historical stuff, so definitely didn't have time for much personal opinion.

Probably just as well ;-)

[PhatPhunk]

Cool and interesting article!!

[MaximumRD]

Awesome and interesting too!

[Gamester81]

Great review as always Steve. Thanks for the mention too. =) I have a question will the UK NES games work on US NES systems? I know there is the PAL issue with the systems but I wasn't sure if there were a lockout for the games. Also is that a Commodore PET computer in the background I see?

[SteveBenway]

The 10NES works as a region lockout, so UK games won't work on the frontloader style US NES (Unless they're one of those games that bypasses or stuns the 10NES). They should work on the toploader though, as the lockout chip was removed from the design, being a cause of some unreliability.

Yup, that's a 8032... one of the later models of PET.

[kreeboy411]

Awsome history lesson!

[ReviewTechUSA]

Awesome video Steve.....i still have my original video from 1985.

[starsoldier1]

Very cool retrospective here. The Nes had a great run during it's day.

[Andyc18]

Great review mate, I was born in 1988 so I never played on a NES but I played on the Master System when I was about 3 because my uncle had one and then not long after he bought the Mega Drive. Just wondering Steve... Do you think you will do a review for the Mega Drive sometime in the future? I loved that console and I think that was a pivotal moment in console history because that came before the Snes and was a terrific system for the late 80's/early 90's.

[SteveBenway]

I will be doing reviews of every system in my collection, and sooner rather than later... so that's a yes :)

[Lachlant1984]

It's interesting to hear you say that Rareware reverse engineered the Lockout chip, but by the time the SNES came out, Rareware were releasing licensed games, and of course they developed the Donkey Kong games very closly with Nintendo during the 90's, very interesting, I wonder what happened there.

[SteveBenway]

I think Rare decided it was more profitable to be a licensed developer, as many stores wouldn't stock their unlicensed games (largely due to Nintendo threatening to cut supplies to stores who sold unlicensed games).

[Lachlant1984]

So Mattel distributed for Nintendo in the UK as well did they, Mattel were also Nintendo's distributors here in Australia as well, until around 1994 I believe. Did early UK versions of NES and SNES gaves have the Mattel logo on them? Ours did. What an informative video. I'm too young to fully understand the Australian Video game scene in the 1980's so I don't know if it's different to the UK scene, but the NES was very popular down here, I never owned one though, I was too young.

[SteveBenway]

I believe the Mattel versions of the NES had the Mattel logo on the box, but not on the console itself.

The later Nintendo distributed versions of the NES have "NES Version" written in small text under the "ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM" text, on the front flap/lid.

It was a popular system here, but unlike in many countries, it had a lot of competition, and was far from dominant.

[Lachlant1984]

That's right, all versions of the NES I've used all have "Mattel Version printed on the cartridge door, I've not seen any with NES Version written on them. It's easy to tell what designated regon a Nintendo console is for because certainly on both the NES and SNES, all Australian versions have AUS printed on the ID label on the bottom of the system, I believe the N64 and GameCube are the same, I'm not sure about the Wii though. Even older Game Boy Game Paks have a regon designation on them.

[silntdoogood]

just kindof reminds me of the start of the walkman, not really the same story, just reminds me of it haha, and theres still quite a demand for these, a few friends and I got one refurbished and are passing it around, along with a snes and atari, which, I'm glad someone else will admit alot of the games for it suck, althou I like pacman, et is horrible, lol, their cheap, but alot of the 30ish I have are bad, but then again, no manuals, I don't know how to work alot of them.

[Joebeeb]

You're brilliant at these kinda videos Steve! Great stuff

[SteveBenway]

Thanks :)

There'll be a lot more of this kind of thing coming along, as I'm doing a video to go with each article I write on my website. So that's one for each system in my collection.

[KieranD212]

i dont think that the NES is a dull looking game system i think it looks better than the wacky famicom just our style tho different to japanese culture

[SteveBenway]

I know, it's entirely a matter of personal taste.

I just find that after the very funky woodgrain Atari 2600, and the moody black Colecovision, the NES looks like a cheap plastic breeze block.

[KieranD212]

compared to those its a 99p watergun from the newsagents but compared to the original family computer its a bit more our style

the atari 2600 and all its models looked nifty

the nes and the beige computers you used to get in the 80s where a bit boring

btw great overview and thanks for the reply appreciate it

[Lachlant1984]

I actually agree with you, but the US version of the SNES looks shit compared to the PAL version and the Japanese Super Famicom.

[KieranD212]

the PAL and Jap snes is so much nicer i think our mega drive looks better too because our logo is a lot nicer

the american snes is ugly no idea why it was changed

[madcapoperator]

Changed to look more like the NES I suspect.

[MaGuss0909]

Very informative =)