NES at 40: Seven ways it changed the world of gaming forever

Nothing makes you feel old like the anniversary of an all-time favorite gaming console. Perhaps none more so than the 40th birthday of the Nintendo Entertainment System (or Famicom as it was known prior to its Japanese debut in 1983).

After its launch in the same year that the game industry crashed, Nintendo faced an uphill battle to make the NES a commercial success. But we all know what will happen next. Nintendo, through some smart decisions, creative genius and maybe a little bit of luck would become one of the console gaming to date. But it all starts with a simple beige and red box that two years later would become the retro-futuristic gray box we all know and love.

Here are seven gaming legacies that Nintendo’s first home console gave the world.

bring up the d-pad

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when game controllers were almost as unique as the console they were attached to. As strange as it may sound, the NES was the first home console to have a simple D-pad. The cross-style design would become a standard on controllers to this day.

Like all good inventions, it was born out of necessity. Nintendo’s early Game & Watch handheld needed a control system that was pocket-friendly. A small joystick was impractical, plus the company wanted something more reliable than the four directional buttons some systems had experimented with. Unearth a little design magic and the iconic D-pad as we know it was born.

The design was so effective that it was included on the NES controller along with two input buttons, which immediately became a winning formula. This format proved so popular that you would be hard pressed to think of a modern console that didn’t use some form of this layout.

better third-party games

Today we expect console titles to be of a certain standard, albeit not always successful. We can thank Nintendo in large for this, and the NES in particular. In the early ’80s, third-party game development was a wild west with few checks and balances – any company could develop and publish games for any system. When the NES came along, it introduced the concept of License The NES’s 10NES “lockout” chip caused third-party games to prevent anyone from publishing games for the platform. In turn, this created some form of quality control that went on to become an industry standard.

It wasn’t all entirely positive (if you weren’t Nintendo). The 10NES was the first large-scale use of what we now commonly call DRM, and it allowed Nintendo to introduce the industry-standard 30 percent license fee, which, while still in its development, still cost developers (and customers) is a source of controversy as well. , The NES also introduced the idea of ​​”exclusives”, which is something else we still see for modern releases (often to the frustration of gamers).

That said, Nintendo’s “seal of approval” did much to revive the gaming industry after its infamous crash in 1983, and for that we are forever grateful. Needless to mention, we can’t be sure that any amount of Mario would have made this platform what it was without the titles. Adverse, mega man 2 And Dragon WarriorAll are created by third-party developers.

Bonus: Nintendo’s “10NES” lock-out chip authentication chip is also the reason you sometimes have to “blow” in a cartridge, as if the contact between the chip and the console wasn’t correct, it would prevent the game from booting up. . It is, perhaps, another long-lasting legacy that we are glad to look back on.

console game saves

the Legend of ZeldaThe legacy of the NES speaks for itself, but it debuted on the NES with a feature that changed everything: game saves. This had never been seen before on consoles in the US and changed what was possible for console games across the board, paving the way for bigger, more complex titles. Many of the NES’ favorite franchises like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy would not have been possible without battery saving, making the technology a great legacy.

While games on disk-based computers had been deploying saves for some years, consoles did not have internal storage, so players were stuck with workarounds such as codes or passwords. Unlike a proper save, which would include things like the current weapon and power-ups, a password will usually (though not always) start you back at the beginning of the last level you were on. This was practical for things like racing games or platformers, but problematic for things like RPGs and sims.

Of course the technology was not perfect. If the battery dies or the connection is somehow lost, you’ll lose all your savings. But it was a good system to last until the 2000s until the 3DS was using some sort of on-cartridge save. Of course, there was a free, time-honored alternative way to “save” the games, usually when you had to go down to dinner: pause and turn off the TV (and maybe grab the controller from any siblings). hide).

video game mascot

it’s hard to talk about Anything Nintendo didn’t point to the world’s most famous plumber. Of course, the NES isn’t where Mario made his first journey, not by a long shot. It’s also not the first console with a Mario Bros. game (that was the Atari 2600). But the NES is arguably where the most important gaming franchise for Nintendo – Super Mario – began.

Super Mario Bros. It’s not just important for Nintendo, the side-scrolling platformer will have a huge impact that reaches far beyond the walls of Kyoto. Unique gameplay and a full array of characters, along with power ups, secret rooms and a colorful world, combined to create a formula that would propel it on its way to becoming the best-selling game of all time (a title it no longer holds). , regret)

There will definitely be two sequels on the NES. super mario bros 2 (at least the American version) was brighter, larger and included the ability to throw enemies and objects. super mario bros 3 Take things a step further with even more hidden bonuses and abilities. All three titles received positive reviews and critical acclaim. The most important thing, Super Mario Bros. would cement the platformer as a key element of console gaming, directly prompting Nintendo’s main rival Sega to create its own iconic mascot franchise.

The concept of mascot platformers has died out to an extent, but Crash Bandicoot helped sell the PlayStation, and we saw new versions of mascots in the form of Ratchet and Clank, Spyro and Banjo Kazooie during the late 90s and early 00s. See the effort. Today, Master Chief is basically the face of Xbox, and Sony uses Nathan Drake, Aloy, and Joel the same way Nintendo used Mario: to sell consoles and merchants.

video game movie adaptation

Games based on popular movies had existed since the 1970s, but we had to wait another two decades before that concept was reversed. In 1993, Super Mario Bros. The first video game became a movie adaptation, and boy did it get off to a bad start.

starring Bob Hoskinslong good friday, who Framed Roger Rabbit) as Mario and John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge, Spawn) as Luigi, the film received mixed reviews at best. The movie follows our plumbing heroes as they travel to another dimension (from Brooklyn!) to rescue, well, you know who. Looking back now, the costumes are a bit off, the effects comical and the plot as thin as the film it was based on – but it was enough time for Cooper-stomping kids around the world to make their own movies. It was an exciting event.

To put it in perspective, Hoskins said it was the worst thing he had ever worked on, and he did several commercials for it. british telecom, A year later we will be honored with its conversions double Dragon And Street Fighter Both of these have a Rotten Tomatoes score less than half that of Super Mario Bros. (which is already only 29%). Sadly, as long as it takes, things don’t get much better from there 2019 Until a game-based movie earned a Tomatometer “Certified Fresh” score (and it was… detective pikachu with 68%).

light gun

It may surprise you to learn that the technology behind light guns has been around since the 1930s. Nintendo had already developed its own version for its laser clay shooting system in 1970. Old rival Sega actually beat Nintendo with its Periscope game in 1966. But of course, the one that would find its way into teen American hands in a big way would be the NES Zapper in 1984.

You can’t talk about Zapper without thinking duck hunting, one of the most iconic titles on the system, even if realistically speaking, it wasn’t that good. But something about that unmistakable dog (and the fact that it was a pack-in game) has propelled it to legendary status.

Sega would introduce its own light gun, the much better named Light Phaser, for the Master System two years later. And who could forget the iconic if a little…aggressively designed Super Scope accessory for the SNES? The light gun would live on for a few more generations, most notably through Sega’s official accessories for the Saturn and Dreamcast, and Namco’s GunCon series for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2.

As soon as gamers upgraded their TVs to the fancy new flat types we have today, the old fashioned light guns from the 80s, 90s and 00s stopped working. The Wii and PS3 both used LED sensors to achieve the effect, and there was an official Aim controller for the PSVR, but nobody’s really figured out a standard way to shoot things from the comfort of our couches. (Okay, Sinden has it figured out, but until a console supports its camera-based light gun system, it’ll only be for real enthusiasts.)

mega franchise

Did we mention that the NES also has sports games? Perhaps more than all of the above, the NES’s influence comes through in the franchises we still enjoy today. Of course, at the top is Mario, with over 200 titles featuring the iconic mascot in some form or another. Within it are major titles for every console Nintendo has ever made – usually several for each.

The NES was the platform that introduced America to Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ninja Gaiden, and the Kirby series. It was also the first console for several existing arcade franchises such as Bionic Commando.

Not all of those series continue today, but the ones that do are some of the most famous (and well-loved) franchises out there. in may, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Started emptying the pockets of children and adults and disturbing their minds. and just last month, final fantasy xvi In less than a week, it made its way into the collection of over 3 million people.

Of course, despite the age of the original games, there are still modern ways to play them. Nintendo’s most current console has more than 60 NES games available through Switch Online, and the selection includes most of the titles you’d expect (including the Super Mario Bros. trilogy, The Legend of Zelda, Punch Out, and many more).