Flashback: Nintendo Entertainment System Part 1

Twenty years ago, when the video game industry was still reeling from what has been commonly referred to as "The Video Game Crash of 1983", a small console called the Nintendo Entertainment System made a big splash.

It was October 18th, 1985, to be precise, when the NES first came to the United States. After successful trial launches in test markets in late 1985, the NES was available nationwide the following year. The system was an undeniable success, and the lack of direct competition helped to propel it and the video game market back into the limelight in both the Eastern and Western regions.

There was no denying that the NES was a phenomenon. By the 1990's one in every three American homes had an NES and video games had become a billion-dollar industry. Nintendo had taken over Saturday morning cartoons, cereal boxes, and the surface of commercial merchandise the world over. Through several different iterations, from the Japanese-exclusive Famicom Disk System to the 90's released top-loading NES, the NES dominated video game sales for nearly a decade.

Though the NES was eventually discontinued, the system lives on in the hearts and homes of many. Children of the 80's almost universally reference the console fondly, and younger video game players are reliving NES games in re-releases on the GBA, mini-games in Animal Crossing, and eventually emulation on the Nintendo Revolution.

Over the next few pages, we relive the heyday of the Nintendo Entertainment System, speak to representatives from Nintendo, list the Top Ten games, and then the Editors' favorites, as well as give you an opportunity to vote on your own. Enjoy and remember, now you're playing with power!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Gamespot
• NES

[Back2DaFuture98]

ROB now works for the goverment for defusing bombs

[hemoglobin12345]

Golden Era of GameSpot

[AtomiXStudios]

I used to have to turn mine on and then wiggle the cart in carefully while watching for a picture to show up. The I got a new connector.

[thatNESfan]

NES FTW!

[blaizevincent]

5 seconds in and im sinigng some lyrics to the megaman theme.

GODDAMMIT BRENTALFLOSS!!

[Anawnymous]

@Dykoz2 Why are you so mad?

[moviereviews4life]

whose the girl...? hot

[Dykoz2]

The reason why its orange is because so you can tell that its not a real gun. Retard...

[godlesswickedvanian]

@sirvegeta yeah, and today it proves itsself! ahaha

[sirvegeta]

@godlesswickedvanian Back then, Nintendo could package dog shit and put the seal of quality on it and watch half a million turds fly off shelves. They were that epic.

[godlesswickedvanian]

"I love the Power Glove.....it's so bad."

Right, that thing was another epic failure, but was very awesome for its time.

[TeamRocketReviews]

I always just take the game out and air it out for a few seconds, maybe waving it a few times, then I pop it back in and it usually works. If it doesn't work then, I blow on it. If that doesn't work, I pull the cartridge out a little bit, snapping it down on the edge. If that doesn't work, I say "screw this", and I go play Atari 2600 :P. My NES works better than most.