It was 20 years ago today, to paraphrase the Beatles song, that "Super Mario Bros." started to play.
On Oct. 18, 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) first went on sale in the United States. It was an 8-bit video game console, and largely thanks to "Super Mario Bros.," a spinoff from the arcade hit "Donkey Kong," the NES quickly became the most successful game system of its era.
"It has been 20 years, which is hard to believe," said Beth Llewelyn, Nintendo senior director of corporate communications. "Super Mario Bros." was "a great game. That's what it all boils down to. It offered something new. It was the first side-scrolling game."
In the interim, Nintendo's consoles included the Nintendo 64 and the current GameCube.
And while most cell phones are now capable of game performance far beyond that of the NES, the machine's legacy lives on.
Today, Nintendo is overshadowed in game consoles by Sony, with its PlayStation series, and by the Microsoft Xbox. But Nintendo still is considered the worldwide leader in handheld video game devices, with its GameBoy series and the Nintendo DS. However, Sony is also gaining significant ground in handhelds with its PlayStationPortable.
For its part, the "Mario" franchise is very much alive and well. Current members of the family include "Super Mario Strikers," "Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time" and "Mario Party 7."
Meanwhile, Nintendo is getting ready to release its next-generation console, the so-called Revolution. While it promises to be a significant leap forward from the GameCube, it has mostly been relegated to also-ran status by the forthcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and the excitement those two platforms have generated.
But Llewelyn said that the Revolution, which is expected to be released next spring, will feature the ability to download old Nintendo games, including titles going all the way back to the NES.
In any case, those who remember the launch of the NES 20 years ago are almost certainly no longer in the video game industry's most coveted demographic. Yet, many remain committed gamers and probably relish their first NES memories.
"When it comes down to it, it (was) just a great game play experience," Llewelyn said. "That started back with the first NES game."
The NES will live on forever because of the emulators avaialable and the ROMS to go with them. Playstation has a fairly good emulator as well, the ROMS aren't so easy to get, though.
Not everyone is into doing these things for free or unofficially.
For example, there have been ways to emulate NES games for a long time now, but the remakes are still selling for GBA: Super Mario Advance 1 through whatever they're at now (6?), NES classics ported over, etc. They're still selling pretty well from what i hear. Personally, I would never touch these titles when i already have them for older systems (and not even counting emus)
The big MP3 craze with AudioGalaxy and Napster was great, and doubtless ppl are still getting music for free, but many ppl *are* actually buying their music online from itunes and other online stores.
To have the backwards compatibility convenience of all your classic favorites playable on one single console, w/o the cartridges no less is pretty appealing. If they could offer titles with bonus features and hopefully at a fair price, all the better. Again, I wouldn't repurchase titles i already have, but I can see others will.
The NES will live on forever because of the emulators avaialable and the ROMS to go with them. Playstation has a fairly good emulator as well, the ROMS aren't so easy to get, though.
Not everyone is into doing these things for free or unofficially.
For example, there have been ways to emulate NES games for a long time now, but the remakes are still selling for GBA: Super Mario Advance 1 through whatever they're at now (6?), NES classics ported over, etc. They're still selling pretty well from what i hear. Personally, I would never touch these titles when i already have them for older systems (and not even counting emus)
The big MP3 craze with AudioGalaxy and Napster was great, and doubtless ppl are still getting music for free, but many ppl *are* actually buying their music online from itunes and other online stores.
To have the backwards compatibility convenience of all your classic favorites playable on one single console, w/o the cartridges no less is pretty appealing. If they could offer titles with bonus features and hopefully at a fair price, all the better. Again, I wouldn't repurchase titles i already have, but I can see others will.
Why isn't Zelda mentioned in article? Sure, Mario is very successful and probably Nintendo's top selling franchise, Zelda is a big hit as well though. I would have liked to see Legend of Zelda mentioned.
I'd rather them commit to the imagination and dedication to gameplay from the old days that just mention old games. Stop rehashing the fighting game or the 1st person shooter and do something fun again. Nintendo wasa success because it had great games and was better than it's competition at the time. Since that time, and their decision to stick with the cartridge with the N64, their edge has dulled because they felt content to just copy everyone else and they let the Nintendo software division fizzle as other companies took center stage.
Why isn't Zelda mentioned in article? Sure, Mario is very successful and probably Nintendo's top selling franchise, Zelda is a big hit as well though. I would have liked to see Legend of Zelda mentioned.
I'd rather them commit to the imagination and dedication to gameplay from the old days that just mention old games. Stop rehashing the fighting game or the 1st person shooter and do something fun again. Nintendo wasa success because it had great games and was better than it's competition at the time. Since that time, and their decision to stick with the cartridge with the N64, their edge has dulled because they felt content to just copy everyone else and they let the Nintendo software division fizzle as other companies took center stage.
MIT creates a simulation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Spacewar. A relic of the early days of minicomputers, it was one of the first computer video games and set the stage for many others, including Asteroids.
With Windows 8 now on a clearer path to release, expect the big device makers to try to crash the raucous Apple party with Microsoft leading the way. And who knows? Microsoft may even steer buyers away from a next-generation 9-inch Kindle Fire.
AstrologyDating.com is a new site that tries to find you your perfect love on the basis of birth date, birth time, and birthplace. But will it tell you the truth? Well, it asks you to pay only per match. So I tried it.
The Web fulminates when it is revealed that executives from VEVO--vehement music industry antipirates--played a pirated stream of an NFL playoff game at a party. VEVO claims it left its Wi-Fi unsupervised. Have we heard that argument before?
Tor's "obfsproxy" technology would make encrypted data look innocuous and let it dodge government censors. That could help citizens in Iran reach blocked sites as antigovernment protests reportedly loom.
iPhones and Angry Birds aside, the arcade endures. Crave pays a visit--and offers up an homage to games and gamers of years past and a tribute to the possibly endangered, but not yet dead, atmosphere of the arcade itself.
the NES is the best.
__________________________________
R.K.
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.Remove-All-Spyware.com/" target="_newWindow">http://www.Remove-All-Spyware.com/</a>
the NES is the best.
__________________________________
R.K.
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.Remove-All-Spyware.com/" target="_newWindow">http://www.Remove-All-Spyware.com/</a>
For example, there have been ways to emulate NES games for a long time now, but the remakes are still selling for GBA: Super Mario Advance 1 through whatever they're at now (6?), NES classics ported over, etc. They're still selling pretty well from what i hear. Personally, I would never touch these titles when i already have them for older systems (and not even counting emus)
The big MP3 craze with AudioGalaxy and Napster was great, and doubtless ppl are still getting music for free, but many ppl *are* actually buying their music online from itunes and other online stores.
To have the backwards compatibility convenience of all your classic favorites playable on one single console, w/o the cartridges no less is pretty appealing. If they could offer titles with bonus features and hopefully at a fair price, all the better. Again, I wouldn't repurchase titles i already have, but I can see others will.
For example, there have been ways to emulate NES games for a long time now, but the remakes are still selling for GBA: Super Mario Advance 1 through whatever they're at now (6?), NES classics ported over, etc. They're still selling pretty well from what i hear. Personally, I would never touch these titles when i already have them for older systems (and not even counting emus)
The big MP3 craze with AudioGalaxy and Napster was great, and doubtless ppl are still getting music for free, but many ppl *are* actually buying their music online from itunes and other online stores.
To have the backwards compatibility convenience of all your classic favorites playable on one single console, w/o the cartridges no less is pretty appealing. If they could offer titles with bonus features and hopefully at a fair price, all the better. Again, I wouldn't repurchase titles i already have, but I can see others will.