If you haven’t heard about some of Nintendo’s achievements before the world revered Wii and DS series, then where have you been?

            The Nintendo Entertainment System is the incarnation of ‘classic’. Thirty odd years ago, it wasn’t all chit-chat about the kingpins of the business we know today: Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Instead, believe it or not, it was all about Nintendo. Sega and Atari joined the video game race, and hopeful companies came and went, but the NES and its successors were where it was all at (maybe we can ignore the Virtual Boy on that one), breaking the barriers of gaming and paving the way for new generations of console to come through.

But for a company so relentlessly criticised nowadays by hardcore gamers and the more frequent gamers alike, it was ground-breaking all those years back. After a devastating period during the eighties caused by an excess of poor game titles from primitive consoles, the industry was losing its value, meaning that electronic games would have been likely to end up worthless in today’s society. However, amidst the havoc, Nintendo rose from the ashes and set an impressive standard for games and consoles to come. Heck, impressive is an understatement! Nintendo lead a revolution of higher quality games, new relationships with 3rd party publishers in order to eliminate shoddy, unapproved software, and not to mention more reliable controllers which were easy to pick up and play!

And on what better platform to give birth to some of the most incredible and unforgettable game series:  Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania and Final Fantasy (say what you want, COD fans, they’re classic) just to name a few games which have brought about success after success to the video game industry, leaving behind them a remarkable legacy. Aspects of games such as fully responsive 8-directional movement, cutscenes, immense graphical capability and exciting in-game music were just some of the innovations we now take for granted that had never been seen before on a home video-game console. What’s more, the console’s ergonomics and design intended to make it look like a kiddie’s plaything no more. Now, anyone could enjoy what the system had to offer, which is very much applicable to what video game consoles aspire to nowadays.

Some may argue that such consoles like the NES have been rendered obsolete and worthless by much further improvements in gaming hardware evident of today’s platforms for entertainment, and I can’t expect much else from those who grew up with more technically capable systems. However, whether you grew up with it, introduced to it by someone, or discovered it elsewhere, you may well understand the significance and innovation of the Nintendo Entertainment System, how it’s not all about the insanely realistic graphics and incredibly stylish 3-dimensional polygons. They’re as fun, playable and relevant as any other game today, and have a charm to them that will never be matched. 

Oh, and I forgot. They’re hard. Yeah, you wanna be hardcore? You want a challenge? Forget Black Ops campaign on Veteran – try Contra on the only difficulty available, which if it had a name, it would be something like ‘Oh damn it, kill me now…’. You’ll be weeping like a sissy girl wishing you didn’t know any better before the game’s even nearly done with you...however, if you toughen yourself up with the relentless mercy of Contra, perhaps you’ll have the upper hand next time you’re facing XxmW2_eP1C_ExS_Alii_5n1pErZ_h3aDsh0tZxX on Terminal…

            The 15th July 2011 will mark the 28th Anniversary of the NES since its Japanese release in 1983. Commemorate Nintendo’s triumph this year by playing some of their most admired, and punishing, classics! (experiencing NES software need not require any financial investment whatsoever – go to your computer and simply download a trustworthy NES Emulator and a NES ROM (game) to play it on)

                

            But for a company so relentlessly criticised nowadays by hardcore gamers and the more frequent gamers alike, it was ground-breaking all those years back. After a devastating period during the eighties caused by an excess of poor game titles from primitive consoles, the industry was losing its value, meaning that electronic games would have been likely to end up worthless in today’s society. However, amidst the havoc, Nintendo rose from the ashes and set an impressive standard for games and consoles to come. Heck, impressive is an understatement! Nintendo lead a revolution of higher quality games, new relationships with 3rd party publishers in order to eliminate shoddy, unapproved software, and not to mention more reliable controllers which were easy to pick up and play!

            And on what better platform to give birth to some of the most incredible and unforgettable game series:  Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania and Final Fantasy (say what you want, COD fans, they’re classic) just to name a few games which have brought about success after success to the video game industry, leaving behind them a remarkable legacy. Aspects of games such as fully responsive 8-directional movement, cutscenes, immense graphical capability and exciting in-game music were just some of the innovations we now take for granted that had never been seen before on a home video-game console. What’s more, the console’s ergonomics and design intended to make it look like a kiddie’s plaything no more. Now, anyone could enjoy what the system had to offer, which is very much applicable to what video game consoles aspire to nowadays.

            Some may argue that such consoles like the NES have been rendered obsolete and worthless by much further improvements in gaming hardware evident of today’s platforms for entertainment, and I can’t expect much else from those who grew up with more technically capable systems. However, whether you grew up with it, introduced to it by someone, or discovered it elsewhere, you may well understand the significance and innovation of the Nintendo Entertainment System, how it’s not all about the insanely realistic graphics and incredibly stylish 3-dimensional polygons. They’re as fun, playable and relevant as any other game today, and have a charm to them that will never be matched.

Oh, and I forgot. They’re hard. Yeah, you wanna be hardcore? You want a challenge? Forget Black Ops campaign on Veteran – try Contra on the only difficulty available, which if it had a name, it would be something like ‘Oh damn it, kill me now…’. You’ll be weeping like a sissy girl wishing you didn’t know any better before the game’s even nearly done with you...however, if you toughen yourself up with the relentless mercy of Contra, perhaps you’ll have the upper hand next time you’re facing XxmW2_eP1C_5n1pErZ_h3aDsh0tZxX on Terminal…

            The 15th July 2011 will mark the 28th Anniversary of the NES since its Japanese release in 1983. Commemorate Nintendo’s triumph this year by playing some of their most admired, and punishing, classics! (experiencing NES software need not require any financial investment whatsoever – go to your computer and simply download a trustworthy NES Emulator and a NES ROM (game) to play it on)