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CHAPTER I: BEGINNINGS:
*Click Play*
Time to go back to the ancient year of 1549, when Japan was found by western explorer Francis Xavier. Since then Japan traded things like guns, silver, art, food, and of course Playing Cards. This introduced the Japanese to gambling. Japan's gambling got so out of hand that the emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu after the war banned all gambling to protect the stability of Japan (By Banning all foreign influences). This whole thing got so ridiculous that Japan started making their own games by any means necessary. It wasn't until 1889 when a game called...
Hanafuda popularized by Nintendo Koppai.
Hanafuda which at first was a game made for recreation and families, became popular by gamblers and organized crime. You had to get a complete suit to win the round, and the one who gets more points by the end of the match wins. Over the years, they made licensed decks, like Disney, Popeye, and more. However they wanted more than just playing cards, so they ventured into food, love hotels, taxis, vacuum cleaners, which pretty much all BOMBED!!!!!! After realizing their failure, they ventured in a a new avenue,
TOYS!!!!
PAUSE VIDEO AND TURN ON NEW VIDEO BELOW...
They struggled there too. Facing off against the likes of Bandai (best known later for every toku toy in existence, Yokai Watch, Machine Robo, Chogokin and it's brother Popynica, Digimon, Gunpla, and various merchandise based off shonen and shojo manga and their respective animes), Takara (Licensing Transformers, GI Joe, and TMNT for Japan, as well as originals such as Battle B-Daman, Beyblade, Battle Beasts, Microman, and more), it's soon to be brother company Tomy (Zoids and Pokemon merchandise), and Epoch (Doraemon and Barcode Battler) But they did release some successes like...
Ultrahand (above), which was arguable their biggest success in their market,
Ultra Machine (above), which was a miniature pitching machine,
Love Tester (above), Which was the weirdest thing they did up to that point,
and the 10 Billion Barrel (above), which was their answer the Rubik's Cube.
(above) N&B Block didn't catch on like Legos did in Japan, and was one of Nintendo's least successful products up to that point (see below).
But For all the successes they had, They couldn't make it to the big leagues for very long, and by the 80s, they faded into obscurity as far as toys. But in the mid 70s, they made a new venture to the market that made the relevant again, we'll talk about that by scrolling down.
CHAPTER II: THE PHOENIX RISES:
Sure they had experience with arcade games and other electronic games, but they're first real video game was 1975's EVR Race, which was essentially a horse racing game. From what I can tell you, It looks like it used FMV footage to display the actual racing. Players would predict on who they thought would win. Not much is known about this game, except that it wasn't a big success due to it's complicated nature, gameplay, and it's high failure rate. Still Nintendo wanted to compete in this emerging market competing against the likes of Sega, Taito, and others.
Before Nintendo had their first successful Video Game Anything, They tried their hand and purchased the Japanese rights to the Magnavox Odyssey. Even though it was the first video game console in the world, it didn't do any better in Japan than it did in America. Being so simplistic it felt more like a board game than an actual video game. So if Nintendo wanted to survive in the industry they needed something that was simplistic enough to be marketable, but complex enough to feel like a video game.
In 1977, They did just that, Nintendo released the Color TV Game series. Featuring games that were popular in the Arcades like Pong, Breakout, and the Racing games that were oh so popular at the time. These systems include the Color TV Game 6, Color TV Game 15, Color TV Game Racing 112, and Color TV Game Block Kuzushi. These contained many variants of the same game. However in the late 70s, the Atari VCS was already out for American shores, so Pong consoles were irrelevant by the time this came out. Still, The writing was on the wall, The Big N was in the Video Game Market with their first successful video game.
In 1978, Nintendo Came out with Computer Othello. A virtual version of the game Othello (Obviously). It's really hard to comment on, but while it was a bigger success than EVR Race, It still wasn't hitting the sweet spot with the public. Just look at that button layout, and The idea was boring. Also keep in mind Taito's Space Invaders came out around the same time, it doesn't take much thought to tell who was the bigger success story this year. However it was successful enough to get a home release. Speaking of Space Invaders...
Space Fever was a carbon copy of Space Invaders, Hell, some of the enemies looked like Space Invaders. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I'm pretty sure Taito threatened a lawsuit for being a complete exact copy, but if you want a lawsuit, Hehe... we'll get to that. While Nintendo doesn't remember this game well, neither does the general public, since this game was forgotten as soon as it was released.
Sheriff was Space Invaders mixed with Robotron 2084, It involved a cowboy saving his lover from a team of banditos. It did feel like Robotron with it's free roaming action, and 8 way shooting, but it did have elements of space invaders, like barriers, squads of enemies, and the extra point bonus at the top of the screen. While it wasn't the biggest success in the world, it did introduce the world to Nintendo's first character, Which was the titular sheriff. They did have much more successful time (at least in Japan) with...
Radar Scope was how Nintendo learned how to take inspiration from other games without being a full on knockoff. It had an isometric perspective, It was yet another game similar to the Space Shooters at the time, but it had a damage meter for attacks that don't target the little laser thing. The attacks that hit the Laser are a one hit KO. While it was a success in Japan, it didn't emulate well in America. It didn't help that Namco's Pac-Man came out in America the same year (1980), to much more critical and commercial acclaim, Still, Minoru Arakawa wasn't going to let his new US branch of Nintendo Fail, so he commissioned Nintendo to create a new game out of the failed game. What he got Young Upstart Shigeru Miyamoto to create was, in a word, Brilliance.
In 1981, Nintendo converted all the unsold Radar Scope cabinets into their biggest game up to this point. It was originally going to be a game based off of Popeye, but the license fell through and became Nintendo's golden boy for a while. Popeye became Jumpman (later Mario after Nintendo's landlord Mario Segale), Olive Oyl became Pauline, and Bluto became the big ape he always resembled, a giant stupid ape known as Donkey Kong. In the game you jump from platform to platform as Mario to save your girl Pauline. It was Nintendo's biggest success story at the moment and saved Nintendo from certain destruction. However this game will be their biggest downfall up to that point.
In the next couple of years, Nintendo released many games inspired by Donkey Kong (with various degrees of success) like...
Donkey Kong Jr. Which put a role reversal to the first game with Mario as the Villain and Donkey Kong's Son as the Hero.
Nintendo's Dream Game came true with Popeye, It was very similar to Donkey Kong, but you collected items to succeed, and could beat Bluto,
Mario Bros, which was inspired by Joust, and introduced Mario's Brother Luigi. You had to clean the sewers filled with Koopas, Crabs, and other oddities. Mario and Luigi will have a bigger part in the next part.
And Finally, Donkey Kong 3, Which was a vertical shooter where you play Stanley and shoot DK and a lot of bugs. It was a very different game from it's predecessors and didn't catch on with the general public.
As if that wasn't crazy enough, Nintendo faced real life monkey business in the court room too. Universal sued Nintendo for Donkey Kong Supposedly copying King Kong. I'll save you the details for time and give you the TL;DR Version:
IN THE EARLY 1980s, NINTENDO MADE LICENSING DEAL FOR EVERY DONKEY KONG PRODUCT UNDER THE SUN. COMPANIES LIKE PURINA, COLECO, AND MILTON BRADLEY HAD DK MERCHANDISE, AND IT CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS. THEY DEMANDED ROYALTIES ON EVERY DONKEY KONG MACHINE FOR COPYING KING KONG. IT GOT UGLY FOR A WHILE FOR BOTH COMPANIES, AND WAS SETTLED OUT OF COURT AFTER NOTING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO IPs, AND USING UNIVERSAL'S CLAIM THEY USED IN COURT A FEW YEARS EARLIER AFTER TRYING TO RELEASE THE 1976 VERSION OF KING KONG BY SAYING KING KONG WAS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. IN THE END UNIVERSAL WEEPED AND NINTENDO CHEERED!!!!!!
While this was going on in America, Nintendo Already released their next big thing in Japan. Coming up in just a stroke of the mouse wheel, Nintendo, and the video game industry as a whole is changed forever.
CHAPTER III: CLIMBING UP A TOWER TO FAME AND TYRANNY:
The Game and Watch series (released from 1980-1991), Which was inspired by a trip from creator Gunpei Yokoi took and saw a man playing with his calculator. These may seem primitive by today's standards, but it had such innovations like Cheap games, an internal clock, and Portability, something that was started by the Microvision, but not perfected until this, and later the Game Boy line (which we'll talk about next time). These games were rather simple, juggling, filling cars with gas, collecting treasure at the bottom of the ocean, but there was one innovation that would change video games FOREVER!!!!!!!!!
The Donkey Kong G&W game introduced the world tho the D-Pad. The joystick required you're whole hand, while this creation you could play with one finger or thumb, heck they were cheaper, easier, and smaller to produce. This would lead the way to the...
The Nintendo Family Computer (or Famicom for Short) was more powerful than anything before it, had 2 action buttons, a start button, a select button, the D-Pad, and a microphone. It even had a 3rd controller port for special controllers. It did start out having arcade ports (pretty close to the originals if that), but it got original games including...
Sports titles like Tennis, Golf, Baseball, Soccer, and 10 Yard Fight (football)...
Light Gun games That made use of the Zapper/Famicom Gun like Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman, Hogan's Alley, and Gumshoe...
Level Editor games That made use of the Data Recorder like Excitebike, Wrecking Crew, and Mach Rider...
Sadly People wanted more... so Shigeru Miyamoto made what could be his greatest accomplishment up to that point You see Nintendo EAD was developing 2 games that were completely different to increase interest in the Famicom. and as a final horrah of the FC before the next big thing for Nintendo. This game would be known as the best selling game for over 20 years... That game was known as...
Super Mario Bros introduced a whole generation of gamers to new concepts, like Ever Changing Levels, Enemy Variety, Power Ups, Side Scrolling, Extra Lives, Bosses, and Smooth and Tight Gameplay, Some of these concepts are nothing new, but these were popularized with this father of innovation. Heck it would be more important as we'll later show... but what else can be said about this game that hasn't already been said, It was the gold standard for years to come, but with all these cool games, What would it take for the system to come out in a country where video games were essentially dead?
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This is the Nintendo Advanced Video System... It had a lot of what the Famicom had, Controllers (which were now wireless), a Light Gun, a Tape Recorder for saving data, and a Keyboard for Programming (neither of which were actually on the Final console). The Famicom had creatable and customizable games, but they broke easily and had now way of showing people your creations because this was Pre-web. Besides... No one in America wanted to purchase the damn thing, keep in mind that ET, Pac Man 2600 and other factors were fresh in people's minds and this was more of a videogame than a computer... So what do you do if you were Nintendo...
Oh did I mention R.O.B. (or Robotic Operating Buddy). He was a Nintendo peripheral that supposedly played games with you, but he was slow, only 2 games worked with him, and it was yet another primitive cash in to the world's interest in robotics. he did have an influence along with several small time Nintendo characters like Duck Hunt Dog, Mr. Game & Watch, and Ice Climbers to be in the Smash Bros Series (which we won't talk about today).
Back in Japan, The Big N Released the Famicom Disk System (or FDS), an add on to the Famicom that allowed the Famicom to play Magnetic Disk related games. It allowed for Game Saves, an extra Sound Channel, and bigger games. This would lead to the game that popularized the system itself...
Legend of Zelda was the Second project Miyamoto was working on, it had a top down perspective, puzzles, collectible items, secrets, a Fantasy setting, and this would be the most epic game released up to that point. You had Link Saving Zelda from Ganon, which would be come a franchise. Originally you could create dungeons, and go to the past, present, and future, but due top a number of factors, that wasn't possible, but time travel was later put into the series. More games were released for the FDS from Nintendo like...
Metroid, Which combined the Sidescrolling Platforming action of Marion with the exploration of Zelda, and adding a Scifi setting (the American version had a password system)...
Kid Icarus, Which was a combined elements of Mario, Zelda, and Metroid and put in a greek mythology setting...
Nazo no Murasamejou (Literaly translated as Mystery of Murasame Castle) which is an eastern influenced version of the Western influenced Zelda. It was only released in Japan and wasn't that popular over there...
As well as Nintendo's Offerings, Nintendo had huge backing from 3rd parties...
Capcom, Who had games like the Mega Man series, Bionic Commando, Many Arcade Ports and Disney Games...
Konami/Ultra Games/Palcom who released many arcade ports (like Contra), as well as original offerings like Castlevania (orginally on the FDS), and Metal Gear...
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Square and Enix (later to be merged) released the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest RPG Series on the NES/Famicom and they'd later create more RPG Series...
Other Companies joined in, releasing ports such as Bubble Bobble, as well as original offerings such as Ninja Gaiden and Blaster Master.
Even Nintendo was having a time of Creative Flexing...With sequels to Zelda and Mario (both Mario 2s) but the year of 1989 was arguably when Nintendo had their strongest peak, and their stiffest competition... It had a magazine that existed in one form or another for a quarter of a century, most well known as Nintendo Power, but it can be known as Nintendo Fan Club. Magazines weren't the only form of merchandise Nintendo had other than video games, there was a cereal known as the Nintendo Cereal System, t-shirts, toys, shoes, cartoons, and... delictaes... NO, I'M NOT SHOWING A PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!
In 1988, Sega released the Mega Drive in Japan... It was more powerful than any system before it, However it wasn't as successful as the NEC's PC Engine. It was successful enough for an American release in 1989, It was owning the NES with an aggressive marketing campaign, and better graphics compared to the NES, Heck Nintendo actually only allowed 5 games A YEAR from 3rd parties and only allowed them to produce games for their consoles. This was the reason you saw a lot of unlicensed games for the NES, and Nintendo's tyranny style business policies is why you saw a lot of companies (like Electronic Arts) transfer their games to the Genesis. We'll discuss the Genesis in more detail in the next part. If the Big N wanted to survive, it needed something more...Also in 1989, Nintendo teamed up with their old rival Universal to release the Wizard, A movie that was a marketing tactic to get people interested in Nintendo Again... It's almost exclusively remembered today as the game that introduced America to What is arguably Nintendo's greatest achievement up to that point, which I'll discuss in the next paragraph. I might discuss The Wizard in greater detail someday, but what was this movie really promoting?
However in 1989, Nintendo needed something that would crush the competition since the NES and Genesis were neck and neck, so Nintendo needed to expand to new avenues...
Coming up After You Scroll, The war has begun...
CHAPTER IV: WAR AGAINST EMPIRES:
In 1990, Nintendo was on top of the world, Creating a magazine called Nintendo Power, Making Cartoons based on Mario and Zelda, Making Breakfast Cereal, Toys, Clothes, but that same year, They made their next big thing in Japan...
The Super Famicom was released to the Japanese public on November 21, 1990. It had a larger color palette than most of what was available at the time, meaning Images looked crisper than Mega Drive or PC-Engine. It was released in Japan for about $320, And generally speaking, it was a hit. Companies were interested in developing games for the system, including some of the companies in the last part, Like Capcom, Konami, and especially Square Soft, to them they were at top of the world at the moment.
Just over a year prior, Nintendo released the game boy, which would also be a contributor to the war against Sega, NEC, SNK, and Atari. It was compact, Affordable, and had the best pack in game that wasn't Mario...
What can be said about Tetris? It was a game that was easy to pick up and play, Hard to Master, It was interesting to see how it came to be... Nintendo was in court with a bunch of different companies to see who would release Tetris on their consoles. One of of those companies was Tengen/Atari, Who was a maker of unlicensed games for the NES, along with Wisdom Tree, Nintendo did not approve of them making Games on their console so eventually they got the axe. Nintendo won the court case, and made tetris for almost all their platforms from then. Tetris wasn't the only game on the Gameboy, There was Miniature versions of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, 3rd party offerings, and newcomers like...
Kirby was a game aimed at beginner gamers that got more complex while the series went on, It was criticized for being too cutesy, but it gained o following that still is there to this very day... There's also a little monster fighting and collecting franchise that originated on the original Game Boy that we'll talk about in the next part...
Overall, The Gameboy was a hit, and sold hundreds of millions of units.. But what about on the home console side?
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was an improvement to the NES in every way. It had Super Mario World as a pack in game, If you got bored with that game, You had four others, F-Zero, Pilotwings, SimCity (where I live), and Gradius III. Let's talk about 2 major games that showed what the console was capable of...Super Mario World was bigger than Mario 3, and had everything a Mario Fan wanted in a Mario game, it was colorful, vibrant, and had new power ups. But it would be out classed in every way by a certain genesis title, I forget what it was called... Oh well, the name will come to me...
F-Zero was another game that showed what the console was capable of... Showing Mode 7 Pseudo-3D graphics. Sadly it was more of a Tech Demo than Anything, but it was a damned good tech demo...
The Genesis fought Back with the Game Gear (which got owned by The Gameboy along with the Lynx, and TurboExpress), It was bulky and expensive (not to mention it's disappointing battery life), but one Game single handedly made the genesis a house hold name... that was...
Sonic the Hedgehog was the game that beat Mario to the ground. It was faster, it had better graphics, it had a cooler main character, it also had great gameplay with arguably the best controller on any system ever. It made great use of the Genesis' not so great sound chip. It was the best game on the system up to that point, Nintendo thought it couldn't be topped...
But they released some of their most popular single and multiplayer games, Link to the Past (arguably the best 2D Zelda), Super Mario Kart (a game responsible for ruining Friendships for it's competitive nature), and Super Metroid (the best 2D Metroid game and making a lot of best oft lists). These games ended up on a lot of best SNES Games lists.
But the war was only beginning, along with releasing more Sonic, Sega also had 2 tactics, one better than the other...
1) Allowing more creative freedom for 3rd Parties: Nintendo didn't allow violent video games to eb published on their systems, but Sega did. this lead to the ESRB Making Mortal Kombat selling more on Genesis the SNES, Along with many other 3rd party games. By the time Nintendo Caught on, It was too little too late.
2) Putting add-ons for "bigger and better" games. The Sega CD and later the 32X were supposed to make the Genesis rival the Super Nintendo in terms of quality, but all it did was make the system more bulky, and almost all it had were crappy Full Motion Video games. The Sega CD was a decent hit, so much so that the Big N was in a fear so what did they do?
They teamed up with Sony to make a CD add-on, At CES of the year this was revealed they told their shareholders that they decided to team up with Phillips to make the add on because they had a more favorable distribution deal. This pissed of Sony and this would lead to Nintendo's biggest downfall and the start of the PlayStation Saga (which we'll discuss next time). Nintendo in return for Phillips making SNES CD consoles, let Nintendo Franchises be published on the CD-i, i'll just show you some good examples of why the only good thing to come out of these games is (ironically) called Youtube Poop...
The gameplay was just as bad. and also the SNES CD Never Materialized. But There was the Satelliview for an expansion for the Super Nintendo, Basically The Big N teamed up with St. GIGA to release a satellite based download service for the Super Famicom a la the Sega Channel for the Genesis. It had games with real voices, but once the broadcast was done, the game was done. You could win prizes like T-Shirts, collectibles, telephone cards, and more. The best known game was BS Zelda (And No It doesn't stand for what you think it does)...
As If that wasn't enough, They teamed up with Hollywood to release a legendarily infamous movie...
It'll take a whole another post to explain what happened there, so you tell me, Do you want to see a blog based on this movie? I know It's been done a million billion times but are you curious to see my thoughts on the movie? If so, When I get a copy of the movie, I'll see it then write about it...
It gets worse from there, they had 2 potentially worse competitors on the horizon....
The Panasonic 3DO and the Atari Jaguar had huge amounts of potential, and in theory could beat Nintendo and Sega to the ground. Graphics alone don't make a console, and they both seriously BOMBED!!!!!!! However the Genesis was beating the Super Nintendo Badly, and Nintendo looked no further than England for new ideas that beat the competition...
Star Fox by Argonaut Games had polygonal 3D graphics. It started a franchise that is still going strong 20 years later. It had space flight action.
Rare Ware would over time become Nintendo's most valuable Asset. Developing many games for the N64, but right now they made Donkey Kong Country. This made Nintendo Relevant again. It had Silicon Graphics 3D (almost), It wasn't true 3D, but the illusion was convincing. It also was like Mario mixed with Sonic.
There was also The Nintendo Power Cartridge, blah blah japan only, blah blah downloadable games at Kiosks blah blah SuFami and GB blah blah nobody cares...
Despite these good games, The ghost of Nintendo's bad decisions started to catch up with hem and shortly after the release of Donkey Kong Country, The Sony Playstation was released in Japan. so Nintendo had to come up with their next big thing ASAP. Coming up after this, The Playstation VS Sega VS Nintendo Saga.
The Genesis fought Back with the Game Gear (which got owned by The Gameboy along with the Lynx, and TurboExpress), It was bulky and expensive (not to mention it's disappointing battery life), but one Game single handedly made the genesis a house hold name... that was...
Sonic the Hedgehog was the game that beat Mario to the ground. It was faster, it had better graphics, it had a cooler main character, it also had great gameplay with arguably the best controller on any system ever. It made great use of the Genesis' not so great sound chip. It was the best game on the system up to that point, Nintendo thought it couldn't be topped...
But they released some of their most popular single and multiplayer games, Link to the Past (arguably the best 2D Zelda), Super Mario Kart (a game responsible for ruining Friendships for it's competitive nature), and Super Metroid (the best 2D Metroid game and making a lot of best oft lists). These games ended up on a lot of best SNES Games lists.
But the war was only beginning, along with releasing more Sonic, Sega also had 2 tactics, one better than the other...
1) Allowing more creative freedom for 3rd Parties: Nintendo didn't allow violent video games to eb published on their systems, but Sega did. this lead to the ESRB Making Mortal Kombat selling more on Genesis the SNES, Along with many other 3rd party games. By the time Nintendo Caught on, It was too little too late.
2) Putting add-ons for "bigger and better" games. The Sega CD and later the 32X were supposed to make the Genesis rival the Super Nintendo in terms of quality, but all it did was make the system more bulky, and almost all it had were crappy Full Motion Video games. The Sega CD was a decent hit, so much so that the Big N was in a fear so what did they do?
The gameplay was just as bad. and also the SNES CD Never Materialized. But There was the Satelliview for an expansion for the Super Nintendo, Basically The Big N teamed up with St. GIGA to release a satellite based download service for the Super Famicom a la the Sega Channel for the Genesis. It had games with real voices, but once the broadcast was done, the game was done. You could win prizes like T-Shirts, collectibles, telephone cards, and more. The best known game was BS Zelda (And No It doesn't stand for what you think it does)...As If that wasn't enough, They teamed up with Hollywood to release a legendarily infamous movie...
It'll take a whole another post to explain what happened there, so you tell me, Do you want to see a blog based on this movie? I know It's been done a million billion times but are you curious to see my thoughts on the movie? If so, When I get a copy of the movie, I'll see it then write about it...
It gets worse from there, they had 2 potentially worse competitors on the horizon....
The Panasonic 3DO and the Atari Jaguar had huge amounts of potential, and in theory could beat Nintendo and Sega to the ground. Graphics alone don't make a console, and they both seriously BOMBED!!!!!!! However the Genesis was beating the Super Nintendo Badly, and Nintendo looked no further than England for new ideas that beat the competition...Star Fox by Argonaut Games had polygonal 3D graphics. It started a franchise that is still going strong 20 years later. It had space flight action.
Rare Ware would over time become Nintendo's most valuable Asset. Developing many games for the N64, but right now they made Donkey Kong Country. This made Nintendo Relevant again. It had Silicon Graphics 3D (almost), It wasn't true 3D, but the illusion was convincing. It also was like Mario mixed with Sonic.
There was also The Nintendo Power Cartridge, blah blah japan only, blah blah downloadable games at Kiosks blah blah SuFami and GB blah blah nobody cares...
Despite these good games, The ghost of Nintendo's bad decisions started to catch up with hem and shortly after the release of Donkey Kong Country, The Sony Playstation was released in Japan. so Nintendo had to come up with their next big thing ASAP. Coming up after this, The Playstation VS Sega VS Nintendo Saga.
CHAPTER V: THE SLOW DISC-TRUCTION OF THE MIGHTY EMPIRE, 64:
I think it was safe to say that 1995 was a weird year for video games... With a console overload that hasn't been seen since 1983 (Bandai Playdia, Apple Pippin, Pansonic 3DO, Atari Jaguar, Amiga CD32, NEC PC-FX, Casio Loopy, FM Towns Marty, ALL OF WHICH BOMBED!!!!!!!!), A weird transitional period between 2D to 3D graphics (with the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation), and the end of the 16-Bit era and the beginning of the 32/64-bit Era. Nintendo was developing it's next big thing. And it needed to get there fast because the war has already begun in 1995. One problem emerged... It wasn't going to be ready for another year. In the meantime, Nintendo released what could possibly be their biggest flop since their First Dark Ages...
The Virtual Boy (known as VR 32 in Development) Brought the 3D of the new consoles with the "Portability" of the Game Boy. Yeah, it sucked. You looked like a total doof while playing it in any way, It was just as portable as a brick, and the games would give you eyestrain if you played too long, it was too expensive (twice as much as a Game Boy at $180), and had barely any games. Like how much? Twenty-something? Most of the games are better off on the Game Boy, only 2 or 3 games actually used the 3D really well, heck I forgot to mention that there was no VR (virtual reality) in this VR system. One more thing, Is it just me, or does the controller look kind of dirty, those of you who are old enough will know what I mean. Anyway, The Big N released their new console in 1996, and it was...THE N64 WAS WHERE IT WAS REALLY AT!!!!! 64 BIT GRAPHICS, GREAT GAMES ON THE HORIZON, 3D GRAPHICS, THE FIRST ANALOG STICK THAT ACTUALLY WORKED, THIS CONSOLE HAD EVERYTHING GOING FOR IT!!!!! And it still did even after facing some stiff competition from Sony. It only had 2 launch games, Super Mario 64, and Pilotwings 64, Oh get used to hearing 64 at the end of everything. One game had a ripple effect that is still being felt to this very day... 64.
Mario 64 Changed Video Games forever. Full 360 degree control of your character. Graphics that haven't been matched up to that point, This was as good as a Mario game could get. Mario wasn't just limited to stomping on enemies, he could punch, kick, throw, body slam, any attack you can think of, He also had crazy Acrobatics, at times he could have been in the WWF, (fast fact, He actually was, Former WWF Superstar Captain Lou Albano played Mario in the live action segments in the original Super Mario Cartoon in 1989), 64.
Before the N64 was released, games supposedly using it's technology emerged. Midway's Cruisin' USA (a racing game), and Rareware's Killer Instict (a fighting game in the vein of Mortal Kombat). They were supposed to be launch titles but they were downgraded because they were on more powerful hardware, Heck KI had to be released on the Super Nintendo. KI's sequel got released on the 64, but the ports of both games onto the 64 got mixed reviews, 64.
Fans wanted more to wet their appetite, so Nintendo delivered by bring out some of their biggest hits around this time.
In the Multiplayer Department, We had Games like Goldeneye 64 (from British developer Rareware(Remember Them?)), and Mario Kart 64. These games fueled late night game parties and these were the funnest games to play with friends or sometimes alone. These were must-haves for the 64, 64.
The Sequel to The Groundbreaking Star Fox, Star Fox 64 even better Graphics, a cool multiplayer mode, methods of traveling on the land in the air, and under the sea, a better story, and the Groundbreaking Rumble Feature, Made Possible by the N64 Rumble Pak 64. While these games were fun, The N64 fans wanted more, but what did the Playstation have going for it? Could it hold up? Was the Playstation a one trick pony? Well...The PS1 had great games like Final Fantasy VII, and Metal Gear Solid. These were more mature, dealed with more philosophical topics Nintendo just couldn't face, Not to mention Nintendo had very little 3rd party support for the N64, mainly due to their unwillingness to evolve, from more and more kiddie games being released for the system, to not willing to go to disc based system (possibly after looking similar failures), Nintendo was seeming more and more like a liability. Heck the game boy was in need to evolve. It had such ideas as...
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The Game Boy Color, released in 1998. Gave the Game Boy Color Graphics. a better refresh rate, infrared connectivity, and gave new light to the Dying Game Boy. It had better 3rd Party Support than the N64, however it still had it's kiddie reputation. The GBC could connect online with the Mobile Adapter GB, which connected to a cell phone (pictured below). There was still more that the game boy could do, like...
Pokemon Red and Blue brought new life to the Game Boy. It was an urban RPG where you collected Fantasy creatures called Pokemon and be the best like no one ever was. It spawned a multi-billion dollar Franchise. Spawning Movies, Manga, Anime, and every single product you can imagine. If you grew up anytime between 1998 and now, you probably remember Pokemon. This franchise was pretty much Paying all of Nintendo's bills up to that point.
Nintendo wasn't done churning out hit games just yet. They released Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Arguably the best game of all time, This made up for Square Soft switching Final Fantasy VII from the N64 to the Playstation. It had an epic scale, long cutscenes, big bosses, great graphics, unique puzzles, and it topped many best of lists to this very day. There's often many debates in which "Did Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time single handedly make owning a N64 worthwhile?", 64.
Banjo-Kazooie was Rareware's answer to Super Mario 64. It was released in 1998, and some even consider it better than Super Mario 64. It had great graphics, vibrant colors, varied levels, and lots of things to collect. It was supposed to be released Shortly befoore another Rareware platformer we'll discuss at the end, but that game never saw the light of day until 2001. This game was recently released on XBOX Live Arcade. 1999 kept the N64 train rolling with games from new and old franchises, 64.
Super Smash Bros. was Nintendo's answer to the fighting games on the Playstation like Battle Arena Toshiden, Dead or Alive, Tekken, Street Fighter, and Soul Edge. Sure it was a game that didn't take a big budget to make, but it was insane multiplayer fun for all ages. 4 player madness, a simple to understand, yet hard to master system, certain characters were dangerous in the right hands. It introduced many players to obscure franchises like Earthbound and games that haven't made an appearance on the N64 like Metroid, 64.
Oh dear... what's that?
Yep, it's the awesomely cheesy DK Rap from the game Donkey Kong 64. There was beautiful graphics, vibrant colors, complex gameplay, varied worlds, and it had the most collectibles out of any Rareware platformer. Here's something that'll make you laugh, get a friend who never curses ever, and make him play the Original Donkey Kong emulation in this game, He'll start dropping F Bombs like crazy. But in all seriousness, It was near impossible to get 101% in this game without help. It also used the power of the N64 Expansion Pak to make a game so big in scale, not even the Playstation could hold it. Speaking of...
Nintendo was still struggling against Sony, so the still needed a little something to make 3rd parties come to the N64. they've been in development of the system since at least 1994, and they weren't going to up and make a new console from scratch, that would screw over consumers, heck people in japan would rather play the Saturn, which wasn't doing all that good in the west. So this add-on was in development for 5 years, and in 1999, the 64DD was released, and it blew. It could have been a decent add-on had it been released a year or two earlier, but by that time the Dreamcast was already out, heck the PS2 and Dolphin (which I'll discuss next time) were on the horizon. So all craps that could've been given were lost. But how is the system at the whole? Well... It was a trophy item, For one thing I do like the inclusion of diskettes, and it could connect to the internet, but on the other hand, it had like 9 games, and they're better off being released on the Dolphin/Gamecube, heck some games came out on cartridge form (like Zelda, Kirby 64 (a particular childhood favorite) Animal Forest, Pokemon Stadium, Banjo-Tooie, Conker, Paper Mario, etc.). But it's failure was so fascinating, I can't help but be curious about it, it was one of the first consoles with an Internet connection, before the days of XBOX Live, 64.As the N64 train slowly came to a halt, some of the finest games for the system sent the system to maximum overdrive, and games like Paper Mario, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Banjo Tooie, Rareware's Perfect Dark, Pokemon Stadium (1 & 2), and Kirby 64 showed what the system was capable of. Using key features like the Expansion Pak, Rumble Pak, and Transfer Pak (which allowed you to transfer data from your Game Boy games to your N64). One game in particular was considered the N64's swansong, and it was developed by none other than Rareware...
The Following video may not be appropriate for all audiences, so viewer discretion is advised.
Twelve Tales: Conker 64 (which was once a kiddie game) was reworked into a raunchy, sick game that made most players uncomfortable known as Conker's Bad Fur Day. If a game like this were released today, it would probably get the AO (adults only) rating. Those who weren't offended by the game found a clever satire of cutesy kiddie 3D platformers that had tons of pop culture references and jokes. The game had more than just satire behind it, it had some of the best multiplayer on the system, and unique gameplay, it wasn't just another Mario 64 clone, 64.
As the N64 was coming to an end, a new generation of consoles emerged with the Dreamcast (which would end life shortly before this new mythical Nintendo system emerged), and the Playstation 2, the game world would be exposed the Nintendo's mysterious Disc-Based Dolphin (aka [REDACTED]). Coming up next, a tale of gaming's adulthood.
CHAPTER VI: THE DARK AGES (AGAIN):
When we last left off, we saw Nintendo slowly fall from the throne they were sitting in for over a decade. Sure. They had The N64 with some of the best games of that era, but it wasn't the late 80s or early 90s, and it would only get worse as time went on. Today, It's time we talked about... oh dear god, do we have to talk about this... -_- Fine... This time we'll be talking about their dark days, first since the 70s/early 80s.
Author's Note: I admit, it's not a great generation historywise, but it had some really good games on all 4 consoles, However it wasn't the best generation for the Big N and future generations don't really have good enough history either...
Where did it all begin? In 2000, the N64 was limping to the finish line, and Nintendo Announced the Dolphin the previous year. In Nintendo Spaceworld 2000 in Japan, the Dolphin was revealed to be the Gamecube, There was also the Game Boy Advance, which would also be released around the same time. It was several times more powerful than the N64, and in theory, it could be more powerful than the then recently released PS2. With 4 consoles at the same time (the Dreamcast, PS2, XBOX, and the Gamecube) in the next year, this was going to be the craziest console war in decades. or was it...
The Dreamcast was dying, it did in just the first few months of the new year, It was doomed from day 1, but that's a story for another day. Sega produced games for their rivals including Nintendo, and it was clear that Nintendo won their long time rivalry, and they became allies. The war was going to be 3 way, with the 2 veterans Versus, the newcomer who had experience with Windows and MS-DOS gaming, yes Microsoft was the underdog of the moment with their XBOX. With a new era of games came new consoles, and battle strategies.
Nintendo tried to combine the then super popular Trading Card Craze, with video games with the E-Reader for the GBA. It had a lot of hype, a lot of games between 2001 and 2005 supported it, and had plenty of downloadable games whether they'd be released or planed, but it didn't catch on in the US because it was bulky, and it had the very inconveinent release frame as Yu-Gi-Oh was catching on like wildfire in the west after spending several years catching on in Japan thanks to Japan's mega obsession with Card Games... 
A few months later in November, Nintendo Released the Gamecube, Nintendo needed something big for its new console, since the N64 Left some big shoes to fill. It had a controller similar to the XBOX or PS2, and Piracy safe (for a while) games. It Didn't have the most exciting design in the world, but it came in a few colors, just like the N64. Some Impressive games came out in the first couple years of the system's life...Smash Bros Melee was the party game of choice for the Gamecube. It topped it's predecessor in every way, It sold systems, and had a lot of extras. This was HAL's msot ambitious project up to that point. and peopel played this game at booze filled sleepovers. The other game that had Nintenfans wetting their shorts that came out around the same time was...
Pikmin had tons of characters on screen at the same time. Micromanaging 100 Pikmin at the same time to get off of an alien planet. It was one of the Gamecube's most innovative games.
Nintendo's biggest franchises weren't left out of the picture, the big 3 Gamecube games from Nintendo were notable for different reasons. Mario Sunshine scrubbed away the crapmess left by his brother during the consoles launch (DISCLAIMER: Luigi's Mansion wasn't that bad of a game, I'd say it wasn't bad period, just not the best "Mario" game) introduced a dificulty level not seen in Mario Games since Mario 2 in Japan. Metroid Prime had the best single player campaign in a FPS in a while. Finally, Wind Waker introduced cel-shading to an industry that was to afraid to use the style. Heck, most anime games use it now.
As Generation NES grows into adulthood, they want to be reminded of a better time for nintendo, when games were simple, and challenging. Emulation sites starting gaining steam with gamers. We saw games Americans never heard of, games that bring back that nostalgic feeling, and Nintendo's response was to release their classic games on the GBA, some with better graphics. This would lead to the virtual console and their whole business model for years to come in the next part.
Another good thing to come of the Gamecube is it's peripherals, as well as the aforementioned Game Boy Player, it had the first actually good wireless controller. No it wasn't a crappy 3rd party infrared controller, it was the first party Wavebird. You could even play your GBA as a controller for some games. So it had that going for it... You also had stuff like composite cables, free loader discs, SNES Like Gamepads, memory cards, LAN and broadband adapters, and more... One thing that was lacking in was it didn't have a DVD Player. It did have the cool looking and expensive Panasonic Q, but that was only released in Japan, speaking of...
However, They were in a distant 3rd place that era of consoles. 3rd Parties were not going to spend money on a downgraded port (because of the smaller storage capacity of the discs to prevent piracy) for a kiddie console when they could release it to more adult consoles like the Playstation 2 and XBOX. The only port that was better in both sales and rating was Soul Calibur II, that had Link from Legend of Zelda. One game came out late in the consoles life that was of not and was as 3rd party game no less.
THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES, SO VIEWER DIGRESSION IS ADVISED.
Resident Evil 4 was regarded as one of the best games of all time. It made mature games on the Gamecube profitable for once. With good scares, graphics, violence, and better gameplay than the previous titles. You could also play the game with a Chainsaw shaped controller. It was ported to the PS2, but the Gamecube port will always gave a place in people's hearts.
Things were at a all time low for the Big N, since Nintendo sold Rareware To Micro$haft. Rare made Various Donkey Kong games, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, Conker, and even had a Zelda Style Action game in works for the Gamecube, which would later become Kameo for the XBOX 360. It got mixed reviews, and Rare would make various games for Microsoft consoles ranging from Mediocre to OH GOD KILL IT!!!!! As cool as it sounds I really don't think Nintendo Should Buy back Rare since there's no way that Rare can go back to gamers good graces. Just look at Power Rangers and Saban and what a hack job they did to the franchise. Nintendo and Microsoft Should really let Rare die in peace, and leave Banjo and Conker to other developers. I said this with MMPR/Power Rangers fans and I'll say it here, sometimes Nintendo fans/Gamers should just let go of their nostalgia.
Author's Note: This was written before Rare Replay, Yooka-Laylee, and all that stuff, so Rare might finally redeem themselves. Just a thought...
Nintendo was dying, Pokemania was all but a memory by the mid-2000s (kids would rather play Yu-Gi-Oh), and Nintendo was planing to get rid of the Game Boy line in favor of the next big thing in handheld, but with Sony muscling in on the handheld domain, and a new generation of consoles underway, Nintendo was pretty much on their last leg. but they fought back rigorously. Coming down there, Nintendo's Burning Rebirth...
CHAPTER VII: THE MOTION OF RESURRECTION:
CHAPTER VII: THE MOTION OF RESURRECTION:
In 2005, Nintendo was met with their first real competitor in the portable market since the 90s. That was the PSP, It was capable of displaying console level graphics on a handheld, so how did our favorite games company fight back? They were really intimidated... with good reason too. Sony took first place from them almost a decade ago, and a few years later, Microsoft sat on them and made them slip to third place. They fought back with ditching the old and aging Game Boy in favor of...
The DS was probably one of Nintendo's best pieces of hardware they produced because it was something new rather than a portable version of an existing console (not knocking the GBA, GBC, OR classic Game Boy or anything), It had a touch screen, wi-fi internet connection, better graphics (some 3D games too), and a controller layout similar to the SNES. the only thing it didn't have was compatibility with GB/GBC games, but it had compatibility with GBA games, at least until the DSi Came out, but we'll get to that, It actually got better with the slimmer DS Lite. It also ahd some great games like New Super Mario Bros., Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Various Pokemon Games, Metroid Prime Hunters, Kirby Super Star Ultra, Animal Crossing: Wild World and lots more. Nintendo kept their throne in the Handheld market, and the PSP with it's high price tag, Huge Piracy Problem, and games that failed appeal to a lot of markets, doomed it to remain in the shadow of the Big N.
The next big thing for Nintendo traded sparkly HD graphics for innovation, That was the Wii. It really had quite a few good games, motion controls, internet connectivity and was as family friendly as a console can get. But all these had a catch, there were twice as much cash grab games for the Wii than the good ones, Motion controls lost their novelty later in the consoles life, The Wii's internet was a joke (even if it was free), and hardcore gamers lost all respect they had for Nintendo which was happening as early as the 90s with censorship on their games being more apparent. I don't like hating on the Wii, I love the Wii to an extent, But I've got to call it as I see it.The reason the Wii did so good was 2 words...
WII. SPORTS!!!!
Who could forget Wii Sports, whether you loved it or you hated it, it created new players from old people and real young people. 5 sports, innovative and responsive motion controls, it introduced more gamers than a lot of other consoles, and it made headline news for a while. It's currently the best selling game on a Nintendo console and for a while was the best selling game on any console...
The Wii had one of the best marketing campaigns for Nintendo, since "Now you're playing with power!!!", "Wii would like to play" It was just so corny that people actually enjoyed it. It only lasted a few years and the Big N tried to appeal to kids and families after that. Kind of a shame really, but We'll talk bad marketing next time...
Kind of got a 90s feel, don't you think?
The Wii had one of the best marketing campaigns for Nintendo, since "Now you're playing with power!!!", "Wii would like to play" It was just so corny that people actually enjoyed it. It only lasted a few years and the Big N tried to appeal to kids and families after that. Kind of a shame really, but We'll talk bad marketing next time...
Nintendo's biggest franchises were still pumping with 2 of them winning many game of the year awards...
Zelda: Twilight Princess was the best show of motion controls in any game with it's swordplay, Mario Galaxy had spot on controls just like a Mario game should and out of this world gameplay (it and it's sequel blew all expectations to outer space). Lastly Metroid Prime 3 showed a new way to play first person shooter games. These gave Nintenfans a nintengasm. *Rimshot*
For Every good game on the system there's 2 or 3 games like ninjabread man Anubis II which were cookie cutter shovelware games, and as much as I hate to say it, these games were some of the most important games on the system since they showed why shovelware is bad on any console.
The wii Also had the virtual console, and later WiiWare, which allowed for some great and quirky games, Both old and new. The Virtual Console had games from NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Neo Geo, TurboGrafx, Commodore 64, MSX, and others, however prices were ridiculous. but it was a start...
The Wii was a multiplayer party system, It had games Like Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros Wii and the DS wasn't left out with games such as Mario Kart DS and Pokemon. The Online multiplayer was okay for some games, but games like brawl lagged, crashed, and were unplayable online. kind of a shame because It's competition was miles better as far as online.
Wii Sports Resort had more games, more options and Kendo is probably the best game of the bunch. You could also do Dogfights with a friend. It was a much better game than the original. Zelda: Skyward Sword also used the technology pretty well, and some say it's better than Ocarina of Time, I don't know if I'd go that far you know...
As both Consoles aged, new technology came through, with the DSi, Which was a premium DS with a camera and microphone. and the balance board (which was gimmicky and barely worth mentioning)...
Sadly Nintendo lacked a significant market share, It just didn't have the hardcore games that the other systems had. The Wii/DS Had some hardcore games like Madworld, No More Heroes, and GTA Chinatown Wars, but yeah they didn't sell all that well.
Nintendo needed a console that would appeal to everyone, and they're next console would do just that. Coming in the Final Chapter, the present day and future...
CHAPTER VIII: #NINTENDONOWANDFOREVER:
In 2011, The big question on every gamer's mind was Was Nintendo going to make it this generation? Will they be in 1st place like last time in all areas? Nintendo had a lot in the bank, Iwata was probably bathing in melted gold and swimming in a pile of cash, but what they didn't have was foresight. They thought getting a year headstart would help, unfortunately for them, they were being cocky.CHAPTER VIII: #NINTENDONOWANDFOREVER:
The 3DS was an upgraded version of the regular DS, but now with better graphics, an analog pad, 3D capabilities, and better online. This is Nintendo's breakthrough hit this genreation, still it didn't have the same ripple effect the DS had. It did have games like Super Mario 3D Land, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Pokemon Generation VI, Kirby Triple Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Fire Emblem Awakening, Bravely Default, among others, but It did have a lot of N64 ports, like the 2 Zelda N64 Games, and Star Fox 64 (not to say they weren't good ports).
On November of 2012, the Wii U was released, It had everything going for it, HD Graphics, Hardcore games, indie games, A Tablet controller, but what went wrong? I'll tell you after the great things to come from the Wii U. Games like Mario Kart 8, Smash 4, Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, Mario 3D World, and that's about it... All the other games aren't coming out for months at least (with one big release not coming out until 2016) or aren't good enough at best. That's the least of the Wii U's worries...
Another good thing to come of the Wii U was Amiibos, unlocking features like more Intelligent AI, Memory savers, yeah this is essentially glorified overpriced DLC, but they were great collectibles...
The TL;DR version of why the Wii U underperformed was because it didn't know what it wanted to be, was it a Tablet controller for the Wii? Was it aimed at hardcore gamers, or was it a casual gamer system? What games did it have on it? MAKE UP YOUR MINDS NINTENDO!!!! You're not Lucasfilm and you don't want to be bought by Disney or whoever after the NX!!!!
Nintendo needs to cut their losses and make their last couple of years for the Wii U memorable, end it with a bang, put aside your egos for 5 minutes, Get with the times, and get people hyped for the NX. Don't make the same mistakes Sega did. The marketing games on mobile platforms without ditching what you're best at is a good start, but there's a plethora of opportunities to do so. You should also endorse fan creations rather than censoring them, because it's bad enoughwe're getting a movie where Adam Sandler is fighting Centipede, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong you actually endorsed, but not the supposed Zelda Netflix show, show some love, not censorship. Endorse guys like Chuggaaconroy, non profit fan projects, because what you're telling me is that we'll probably get a Pokemon Movie staring Justin Bieber before we see you give a damn about your fans (knowing them the'll already start pre production on it and... you know what I refuse to go there). YOU GUYS AREN'T JUST STRONG, YOU'RE NINTENSTRONG!!!!!! You probably make millions off of merchandise sales, and if that whole Zelda TV Series was a thing, it could have been huge... Don't Frak up the NX...
The New 3DS is still young and announced not too long after it's release, so I won't judge it yet, but The NX is probably going to be released in late 2016/sometime in 2017? What do you want from it? What do you expect from it? Will it be another home run, or will it crash and burn like the Wii U is currently doing? If Nintendo stops making consoles, will you stop playing video games like I probably will if that happens? Answer in the comments below...
I won't end it with homework or key people, but I want you to experience the Wii U and 3DS for yourself.
Congrats on 126 years of service, #NintendoNowAndForever!!!!
CHAPTER IX: CLOSING THOUGHTS:
If you're wondering why the last part was relatively unchanged from the original version, it's because this generation is just too new and Nintendo didn't have the best go this generation. We don't know what NX is but The last thing Nintendo wants to do is end up like SEGA, as Joe Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Nintendo needs to make something special this coming generation. At the risk of sounding like jerk, Satoru Iwata had a good run, but he will be missed, so I pray to the deity Nintendo usually prays to that whoever the new president of Nintendo has the best run yet for Nintendo, who knows, he/she can make the Wii U shine in it's final hours, and make NX the success story of this coming generation, and all ye nintendo faithful, at least try to have some faith for NX, because we don't know much about it yet officially... also here's to 250 more blogs in the future, this one put a damn burden to my internet connection, so if it destroyed your's, just imagine how others feel. Corrections and criticism is always welcome...
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