Weekly Topic: The NES

Retro Hero

Retro Hero

Seeing as it's Thursday, we may as well begin all topics Thursday and start a new one the following Thursday.

This weeks topic is the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This was the first video game system I ever got, I was about 6 years old when it came out and it's the very reason why I love video games today. I still consider a lot of it's games as classics, such as Super Mario Bros which I never seem to get tired of. I'll talk more about it later cos I have to go out.

Next week's topic starter can be BV (if he doesn't want to he can pick someone else?).
 
I can't really remeber if it's the first system I played a game on, but I do know that it was the first system I ever had, Mario was the first game I ever beat (At age 4 may I say), heck, the whole thing was full of firsts.

The NES saved the gaming market from dying out, and for that everyone should have a great deal of respect. It spawed countless classic games, and even more loved franchises. I have no idea where I would be in this world if it wasn't for this dues ex, but I know it woudn't be better.
 
Ahh the NES.....This was the first sytem I was actually old enough to enjoy...First games I had were Mario, duck hunt, Bubble bobble{awesome game still} and Tetris. I remember seeing my sister beat Mario for the first time and I was ecstatic, I used to suck at Mario but I owned at duck hunt lol...
 
My first system as well. My favorite game, if I remember correctly, was Snake, Rattle n' Roll. Me and my brother played it all the time.
 
My NES still works, but usually requires a bit of rough handling for that to happen.

I still want something like Halo 2 ported to it :p
 
The NES is probably my favorite video game system... ever.

So many brilliant games: Metroid, Super Mario series, Zelda series, Dragon Warrior, the Castlevanias, Bubble Bobble, Joust, Mike Tyson's Punchout, the Mega Man games, the list goes on and on...

Now I want to go play mine again!
 
The NES was also the first system I owned, however not the first I played, my cousin had an Atari 2600. Oh how I loved to gloat over my superiour NES back then lol. I was only 7 years old when it came out but I remember it well, Christmas morning opening the box and seeing the R.O.B. staring back at me...so cool. Super Mario Brothers was an instant favorite, as was Punch Out, Contra, Castlevania, and on and on. I remember my parents would buy me a new game every other month, which seemed like such a long time to wait for a new game!

I still own my original NES and it still works pretty well after a cleaning session before play, however R.O.B. died on me many years ago. I have around 50 or so NES games for it right now, and still play from time to time. My wife actually plays it alot more than I do, she is a huge fan of Super Mario Brothers 1-3.

To appreciate gaming one must do the same as with any hobby...go to the roots. And while the NES was not the first console, it was the first one to capture so many peoples hearts and made die-hard gamers out of them. I don't think gaming would be what it is today if the NES would have never existed, we owe it a great deal of respect. :)
 
I think it more or less was the first console in the way that it was the first to become a household name. Almost everyone knew who Nintendo were when the NES came out. I even heard that there was a time where Mario was more popular than Mickey Mouse!
 
Man, the NES. That system is awesome.

It wasn't the first system I played, but it was the first system that was mine. My older brother had an Atari that I remember playing and then he got his own NES and I remember watching him play Super Mario Bros 2 (SMB 2 but not SMB...isn't that weird? Maybe I was too young for the first one) but I remember how fascinated I was by the opening of that game. The whole dream thing and the door and the scenery that looked like big green mattresses, and then pulling up vegetables to hit things with. It seemed very magical.

Anyway, my brother left and moved to my Grandma's and took his NES with him. I got my own for Christmas. It was maybe a year or two after it had come out, but it still came bundled with SMB and Duck Hunt and the Zapper.

All of my friends also had the NES, so we were always playing games at each other's houses (remember how it used to be? "I'm going to my friend's house to play Nintendo!") and we would borrow each other's games.

My favorite NES game is still the original Legend of Zelda, but I also enjoyed the SMB games and Ski or Die.
 
I was the last one out of my circle of friends to get a NES. My aunt and uncle gave one to me when we went to visit them for Christmas. My uncle (a different one) also got a NES at about the same time we used to play Bases Loaded and Black Bass a lot. There were two hockey games I always used to play...one was of course Blades of Steel..the other was a lot of fun too...I loved getting into fights by bumping the really fat guys together a few times LOL
I too remember going over to my friends house to play Nintendo...I wonder why nobody does that anymore?
ahh....good times, good times :)
 
And of course let's not forget that the NES still holds some of the most difficult games ever known to man. I still find games such as Marble Madness and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles no more easier than I used to when I was 7 years old. What's funny is that these were the days when consoles and games were made for young kids, and yet a lot of the games were impossible when compaired to the "mature" games we get nowadays.  :lol

But that was part of the NES's charm I think, mind numbing difficulty.
 
Yeah, what was cool about the NES is that people weren't concerned about looking cool or playing "mature" games. They had as much fun playing an Italian plumber (Mario) as they did a ninja (Ninja Gaiden) or a stealth operative (Metal Gear) or a shooter (Contra).

Now it's like, "OMG, Mario is teh kiddy." But the gameplay of Mario is still as fun as it's always been...I think it's sad that some people let themselves miss out on a great game because of insecurity issues.
 
" Marble Madness and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

 Dude OMG!! I'm not the only one who sucked at these 2 games! I am really horrible at marble madness, ugh, it's so frustrating. TMNT was cool till' you got to the later leves, the stupid water level comes to mind...Now you all wanna know a super, unreal, crazy hard game? Boy And His Blob.....That game will own anybody, I am sure of this. Or how about those 1st person perspective games like Shadowgate and Deja Vu, those were like so ahead of their time back than. I think my most memorable game was Maniac Mansion, I mean it was so different from anything else back than. You could literally steal a guy's hampster and put it in the microwave and blow it up, OR, you could just join a band with a depressed alien!?! Yea, it was odd.....Well, I could honestly go on and on about the NES, so I'll just stop here haha....
 
The NES still lives on in new incarnations as well..

The newly released Neo Fami console will play any US NES game, and Japanese Famicom as well. And is built on the old top loader NES technology, supposedly allowing for problem free game play ie...faulty 72 pin reader would easily get dirty, the spring latch would not lock into place and you would see flashing white/gray screens constantly on original NES systems. It has a cool looking design and comes packaged with a convertor that allows play of either type cartridge, and comes with two unique controllers as well. I might buy one of these in due time actually...

here is a link to the official site..be warned its not in english.....
http://www.gametech.co.jp/products/catalog/2226/2226_1.html

and also heres one on ebay right now for pre-order (release date Nov. 15 on the converter bundle package)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62054&item=8145931452&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
 
NES games weren't necessarily too difficult, they just required a lot more patience. A lot of games I played for the NES as a kid I was really good at because I played them over and over so many times I got a knack for them. If I try playing those games today I usually can't get passed the first level/area/puzzle/challange without dieing, and rather than continuing to play I give up and play something that's geared towards instant gratification. Which is why games like Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox and F-Zero GX are such an uncommon delight in videogames today. It may take you longer to beat the first level of Ninja Gaiden than it does to beat another game, but beating that first level in NG will probably give you a stronger feeling of accomplishment.
 
The NEs was a pretty sweet system.

Super Mario Bros 1/2/3, Gi Joe (yes, this game was fun), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles, Tetris, Nes PLay Action football, Tiger Heli, SKy Kid... and tons more...

I used to love playing all those games.

It almost seems that the systems of today don't have as much impact as the NES did. It definitely was one of the most unique systems made due to its impact on the gaming crowd.

†B†V† :hat
 
Oh man theres tons of topics you go do, Genesis, Gameboy, Game gear, arcades, or even just games themselves, I dunno, just throwing it out there....
 
Retro Hero said:
So what ya having for next topic Blue? Starts Thursday remember.  :)
Click to expand...
topics not done yet retro :)

I am thinking of a new topic....  might just be on a specific game... but then again... I don't want to kill the discussion for a specific game, you know?

Keep up the Nes discussions :)

†B†V† :hat
 
To get my NES to work nowadays I actually have to take the upper covering off and then shove the cartriges in at just the right angle...

Even worse than having to tilt a system on its side to play it (Playstation, I'm talking about you!).
 
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