Nintendo Entertainment System Turns 20

Holy crap I'm getting old. It seems like it was just yesterday when I first turned on my NES. The best gift I've ever received in my life to this day has to be getting the NES for Christmas -- it cemented my love for videogames and all things "techie" (or "nerdie" if you want to be a dick about it).

The single biggest jump in game quality for me has always been the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo Entertainment System. Suddenly the music, sound effects and graphics were completely clear. No more guessing what that six pixel blob and monotone bleeping is supposed to represent. With games like Super Mario Brothers, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Mega Man and the amazing River City Ransom there's little doubt in my mind that the NES was the first gaming console to rival the arcade gaming experience.

Read on and post your favorite NES memories here if you like.

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 10/19/2005 11:02 | 18 | Source

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sedgemonkey (Level 11 Coelacanth) @ 10/24/2005 10:02

Heh, that censorship stuff is a kick.

jesusbot3000 (Level 1 Gangster) @ 10/24/2005 10:00

Has anyone seen those messiah machines? Those are pretty slick, but why put out sixty for something when you can play it on your comp?

Carnivac (Level 8 Behemoth) @ 10/24/2005 02:39

Yup. I have Contra III on SNES cartridge as Super Probotector. That kind of thing never bothered me too much. I quite liked the robots on the boxart. Just used to annoy me with things like the Ninja Turtles/Hero Turtles thing which even led to the cartoon show being censored (every nunchuck fight scene of Michelangelo's being cut for example). They don't seem to do that any more and the word Ninja can be used in titles these days.

Citizen_Insane (Level 1 White Belt) @ 10/24/2005 00:19

Europe changed around a lot of games, from what I hear..

like Contra, for example. Every human sprite was changed into a robot.

Carnivac (Level 8 Behemoth) @ 10/23/2005 13:43

As useful as roms are, for some people its just no substitute for the real thing. Something still damn appealing about playing the old chunky NES and its big cartridges. Managed to get me a couple of my childhood favorites off ebay. Got me Street Gangs (Europe name for River City Ransom) for £3 and Blue Shadow (Europe name for Shadow of the Ninja) for £2. Boxes were a lil torn but the games work fine and still entertain me now as much as they did then and reminds me that I just do not like most modern games...

Citizen_Insane (Level 1 White Belt) @ 10/23/2005 01:26

buy contra force, if you can.

mccow28 (Level 1 Gangster) @ 10/22/2005 10:09

Thanks to Value Village and the local pawn shops I'm never in a shortage of NES games.

I just recently bought Double Dragon II and Guerilla War [sp?], very fun games they are, and I can play them when my friends are over.

I'm still looking for some of the better games though. Finding River City Ransom is a challenge. Without the use of online shopping, of course.

Citizen_Insane (Level 1 White Belt) @ 10/22/2005 00:43

Yeah, and with roms and everything out there now..

heck, I'm sure there's even tutorials out there on how to make your own NES.

I know a guy that made his own game boy color that would output to a VGA.

sedgemonkey (Level 11 Coelacanth) @ 10/21/2005 08:06

How can those old consoles be worth anything? There's gottta be a zillion of them out there.

OMGFossil (Level 6 Yonkyu) @ 10/20/2005 22:40

Wolverine: It should be like... Worth thousands or dollars by now if its in that good a condition. My old Sega Genesis is perfect and is worth a lot itself, so I'm guessing the NES would be incredibly expensive so yeah

Carnivac (Level 8 Behemoth) @ 10/20/2005 15:19

Just recently found I still have my NES in box in great condition. Been playing it a lot and also discovering a lot of great games via emulation. Stuff the new consoles, the old NES is using up all my time.

sedgemonkey (Level 11 Coelacanth) @ 10/20/2005 08:13

The games were revolutionary for their time, but I think there's very few games I can really play for hours on end anymore. River City Ransom and Tetris are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Akira (Level 5 Sniper) @ 10/20/2005 01:08

wouldn't it be hot if they re-released it for the 20th birthday? I know I'd get one... or six..ty

Citizen_Insane (Level 1 White Belt) @ 10/19/2005 22:12

dang, we still have the original NES, AND the new NES that they released close to the system's demise. You guys know what I'm talking about? It was top-loading like the SNES. It still works, too :-P

OMGFossil (Level 6 Yonkyu) @ 10/19/2005 22:03

Fun fact: The Nintendo company is originally over a century old

Brian the Great (Level 8 Brigadier General) @ 10/19/2005 11:53

Paystation? I'd rather celebrate SNES's birthday.

sedgemonkey (Level 11 Coelacanth) @ 10/19/2005 11:34

Sheeeet... you weren't even alive when the NES came about. You'll see young pup, just wait until you celebrate the Playstation's 20th anniversary.

Brian the Great (Level 8 Brigadier General) @ 10/19/2005 11:16

I smell melancholy.

Nintendo Entertainment System Turns 20

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