The NES Adds a 25th Candle to its Birthday Cake

[John Funk]

The NES Adds a 25th Candle to its Birthday Cake

Twenty-five years ago, Nintendo's venerable Nintendo Entertainment System first went on sale in North America.

For many gamers, the original Nintendo Entertainment System was where it all began. With a bevy of classic titles running the gamut from Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros to the original Zelda and Metroid, one could argue that the NES was the most influential videogame console of all time. It certainly pulled the struggling games industry out of its early-1980s crash all but simultaneously - can you imagine where we'd be right now if it hadn't been for Nintendo's little gray box?

On October 18th, 1985, Nintendo employees - having moved from Seattle to Hackensack, New Jersey - hit the streets in Manhattan, demonstrating the virtues of the NES in makeshift displays to anyone who would listen.

The very first NES unit was sold at the iconic FAO Schwarz store in Manhattan, Nintendo's then-advertising-manager Gail Tilden told 1UP [http://www.1up.com/news/day-history-nintendo-entertainment-system-released-1985]. The lucky buyer - who took home all 15 launch titles like Excitebike and Ice Climbers with the console - turned out to not be a curious consumer after all, says Tilden, but rather a representative from a competitor in Nintendo's native Japan.

Though Nintendo considers this initial October 18th street test the NES' birthday, the console wouldn't see widespread release across North America until 1986 following a similar (and similarly successful) test in Los Angeles. It launched in Europe the same year, and enjoyed a very successful reign around the world until it was finally discontinued in 1995 - a year before Nintendo released the Nintendo 64.

Happy birthday, NES. You turned a generation into gamers, and there is little praise we can give you that is worthy of that achievement.

(1UP [http://www.1up.com/news/day-history-nintendo-entertainment-system-released-1985])

Permalink

 

[Cracktopus]

I'm happy to still have a functional NES still around (With a functional Zapper!).

Happy birthday, NES!

 

[Micah Weil]

Games with staying power, none the less.
Thank you, Nintendo.

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

This box changed my life.

Here's to you, Nintendo.

 

[FinalFreak16]

Its surprising how a console like this, much like my Sega Megadrive still works flawlessly today and yet these PS3's and 360's seem to break down within 2 years after purchase.

 

[Arcanist]

Its surprising how a console like this, much like my Sega Megadrive still works flawlessly today and yet these PS3's and 360's seem to break down within 2 years after purchase.

Fuckin' nintendium, man. It's crazy stuff.

 

[tahrey]

Funny, I hear enough about NESes breaking down also ... blowing the cart was but your first step in finding out whether it was dust, or totally broken. All those that you see running today are survivors, extra strong ones which haven't (yet) fallen by the wayside. However, the solid state nature of the cart-based machines probably has something to do with it; optical drives don't last forever, regardless of their application (almost every single spinning-disc machine i've owned has eventually conked out due to problems with the transport - stereos, discmans, CDROMs/burners, consoles... just waiting for my old DVD player to pop off next). I bet there'll be a lot more N64s still working in 2035 than GCs or Wii's.

Still, that long eh ... wow. Frightening.

I'd question the universiality of it all (I know but one person in my whole life who has/had one, and I've never seen it turned on - and certainly here in Europe, the Amiga and Atari ST were on the table bringing the next, post-C64, post-Sinclair, post-Acorn (themselves all possessed of a rich game history), *long*-post-crash generation to market even before the NES hit the states), but to go any further than that passing mention seems churlish when it obviously still meant, and means, so much to so many.

Someone fire up Contra and enter the code on my behalf. I'll just go and see if I can coax the Master System into life and whisper to it, "soon..."

 

[icyneesan]

Happy Birthday NES. I still hate you for TMNT. But its a love-hate.

Spoiler: I-it's not like I l-l-liked you anyways!

Its surprising how a console like this, much like my Sega Megadrive still works flawlessly today and yet these PS3's and 360's seem to break down within 2 years after purchase.

Fuckin' nintendium, man. It's crazy stuff.

NINTENDOMANIAS RUNNING WILD BROTHA

 

[Yopaz]

Happy Birthday Nintendo. I can't thank you enough for introducing me to gaming and haveing such an influence on the world of gaming.

 

[mjc0961]

Its surprising how a console like this, much like my Sega Megadrive still works flawlessly today and yet these PS3's and 360's seem to break down within 2 years after purchase.

It's not surprising at all, actually. The stuff inside the old consoles is pretty simple, there really isn't a whole lot of parts that can break. Meanwhile, the PS3 and 360 are basically computers you can't upgrade.

Also the NES itself was prone to hardware failure because of the silly front loading design rather than a simple top loader.

 

[Armored Prayer]

Never played the NES but happy Birthday to it anyways. You help shape gaming into what it is today.

*Salutes*

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Its surprising how a console like this, much like my Sega Megadrive still works flawlessly today and yet these PS3's and 360's seem to break down within 2 years after purchase.

flawlessly? well i spend between 15 and 30 mins to get a cartridge started, but my two little NES-treasures travelt a lot with me so i guess they might have got some rough times.

 

[Commander Jack Rankin]

Happy birthday NES! May your contacts always be free of dust.

 

[Ninonybox_v1legacy]

Happy birthday buddy....you may have passed me by...but remember it was you who taught me how to game.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Happy birthday, NES. If it weren't for you, the SNES and it's excellent games never would have seen the light of day. =) Plus, we also wouldn't have AVGN today if it weren't for your large library of bad games.

Even though mine was a Commodore household and you essentially put an end to gaming-centric PC's, my hat still goes off to you.

 

[Snotnarok]

Happy Birthday NES, if you only used better metals in your 72 pin connector I wouldn't have had to waste time trying to fix you only for you to croak a week later.

Yes I'm spiteful because I have Blaster Master and shit needs to be blasted!!

 

[Kryten1029a]

I'm not all that enamored of the Wii but I do have to give Nintendo credit for resurrecting the industry and introducing things like rumble and thumbsticks. This is an anniversary worth noting, that's for sure. It marked the beginning of so many good things.

 

[SimuLord]

The NES changed my life when I got mine for Christmas '88. Whether it was for the better is in the eye of the beholder---on the one hand, my writing talent got forged in the wonderful world of FAQ and review writing and whenever I've got a bit of writer's block games are always there to give me a subject...but on the other hand, with a new toy and finally something to keep me from doing my homework, my grades went into the toilet---it was really the sum of all fears for my mom, but her best efforts to rein me in failed when I realized she could be easily intimidated and controlled by anyone willing to manipulate her fears (Freud would have a field day with me.)

So yeah...mixed blessing, but on the whole it's not TOO much of a stretch to say the NES had a major hand in making me what I am today, and what I am ain't bad.