Evolution Of The Console

GAME Features

Evolution Of The Console
1985 to '96 heralds a new beginning.

Videogame consoles have been around for well over 30 years now, enchanting and entertaining countless generations. Granted we all move on, adapting to the next wave of hardware, but gamers will always remember their first. Whether your introduction to console gaming involved twisting the paddles of the prehistoric Atari 2600, or slotting FIFA 94 into the 16-bit Mega Drive, GRAND excavates the past and reveals how we arrived at the efficient seventh generation powerhouses that currently grace our living rooms.

   What do Adolf Hitler, Charlie Chaplin and Nintendo all have in common? They were all born in the same year, 1889.
Despite coming to prominence on the back of its own uniquely mustachioed character (Mario) Japanese games giant Nintendo toyed with several business ventures before it entered the world of videogames. By the 1960s Nintendo had tried its hand at everything from manufacturing playing cards to running a chain of Tokyo’s now infamous Love Hotels before the company hit the jackpot with a string of successful arcade games. This was made complete by the launch of Nintendo’s first home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

   The videogame landscape hasn’t been the same since.
The Ipod of its day, the NES enjoyed complete market domination. Everybody owned one. In the early ‘90s it was widely acknowledged that one in every three homes in North America was armed with a NES. The console single-handedly restored consumer and retailer confidence to an industry still reeling from the incisive videogame market crash of 1983, and sparked a video game renaissance.

   The system actually began life as the Famicon in Japan in 1983. Following impressive initial sales, Nintendo approached Atari for distribution rights in the US, but the offer was rejected. In 1985, the Japanese company decided to brave the US market alone; it would be the first move in its eventual US ascendancy. Europe and Australia soon followed in 1987.
It was, however, its monopolistic grip on North America which allowed Nintendo to dictate play. They introduced the NES lockout chip that was fitted within each licensed game cartridge. A matching chip was fitted within the console and any unofficial titles would not load. Nintendo avidly sought third-party games developers, but this chip technology ensured that developers kept to Nintendo’s terms.

   Bundled at different times during the production of the NES were a series of innovative peripherals. These included an operational robot (R.O.B), the gun shaped NES zapper, a floor mat containing 12 pressure sensors and the infamous Power Glove. This gauntlet was designed to replicate an onscreen character by using various hand movements, but the glove rarely responded to the commands. Still, it looked good.
The influential NES was the progenitor of modern video gaming, and finished production in 1996. By this stage the console had sold nearly 62 million units worldwide.

The Nintendo Entertainment System launched with a boot load of gaming titles. These games helped to create the era of modern gaming as we know it. Concepts such as franchises, genres, enduring game characters and merchandising were all forged from a console that was shaped like a fishing tackle box. Consumers were instantly attracted to the superior graphics and sound quality delivered on the platform. Nothing like this had ever been seen on a home entertainment system.

Nintendo turned to artist Shigeru Miyamoto, who utilised the console attributes with Nintendo’s mascot, and a renascent Mario was reborn in Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. introduced smooth scrolling levels to the platform genre, leading to a deluge of quality iconic gaming characters; Bionic Commando , Mega Man and Contra were all solid platformers, while Metroid brought the female protagonist to gaming with Samus Aran.

Before Mike Tyson tore the ears from boxer’s heads with his teeth, he endorsed the exemplary Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! on the NES, a solid button mashing boxing sim. Ninja Gaiden moved from the arcade to the console and the Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Zelda and Castlevania franchises all began life on the system. But if there was one game that defined the era of the NES, it was Super Mario Bros 3. Directed by Miyamoto, the game boasted new features and character introductions such as the blood nutted Bowser, and is regarded by many fans as the best of the classic Mario series.