Once again it's time for you to have your chance to appear in a feature article on the site, with the subject this week revolving around the Famicom / NES. We'll be celebrating the system all week as it's passed its 30 year anniversary in Japan, and would like your thoughts on the following:
"The Famicom arguably began a new era for video games, especially when it arrived as the NES in Western territories. Just how important do you think the system was in laying the groundwork for the games industry we have today, and do you think its lineup of 8-bit games have successfully stood the test of time?"
As always the more opinions the merrier. This thread will be locked a 10pm UK time / 5pm Eastern on Thursday 18th July.
I think the NES was very important in the games industry. If the NES wasn't there pressuring Sega to step-up it's game, I think video games might have stayed in the Atari ages. And if they ever upgraded, it'd be to 16-bit levels which would last for a much longer time than it did with Nintendo and Sega at each other's throats.
NES games are kind of hit or miss. Some will still be playable for years to come, but others weren't playable the day were released. I think the majority of the NES library have stood the test of time.
Formerly MickeyTheGreat and MickMick. Now I'm Mickey again!
The NES is what started Nintendo. The games on the NES were well appreciated and were seeds to the trees today. The NES games should stay playable so that people can simply grasp the concept of some game franchises and learn about their lore and history in a simple way. Those games are also memorable for what they did to help Nintendo thrive as a strong company today. Games like Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Kirby were given many credit for their creativity and entertainment and that gave Nintendo the idea to create more and keep up with the creativity. Those games are still fun and memorable today. They can introduce new gamers to the plot and concept of the game very easy and in a fun way. The modern games have not changed their play styles completely different. Mario still has its clever platforming and level ideas with the same plot, Zelda still includes great RPG elements and quests, Metroid involves neat exploration and its unique story, Kid Icarus and Kirby share similar results. There are more that released on the NES which have also became memorable motivators to the powerful modern games. I am glad to see that they are still playable today due to their amazing history.
Well I am pretty sure if Nintendo didn't try marketing video games to NA after the video game crash of 83 someone else would have it just would have been a bit longer. With that said though, it was a very important in laying the ground work in the industry. It showed that with the right guidance I guess you can say video games could be a success in NA.
As for games standing the test of time it all really depends on the game for me. Games like Ducktales, Super Mario Bros 3 and of course the Mega Man games for me are as good now as the day I first played them many years ago. Other games like Donkey Kong Jr. Mario Bros, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for example have not. But than again the same can be said about any game on any system.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
The NES was effectively, the rebirth of the industry. A 30(ish for America) year old console really doesn't seem like it could be anything special, however, this system set down the bases for many franchises which still use the timeless mechanics of the first games in their series' today. Super Mario Bros hasn't changed too much from the old days; it still contains the excellent platforming Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 originally threw into the mix. Other series like Zelda, Metroid and Kirby also haven't strayed too far from their roots. Even the lesser known NES games occasionally regain the spotlight, with the most recent example being Kid Icarus: Uprising. Proof of how timeless the system is may be derived from the fact that not only are the games on the system still enjoyed today by veteran gamers and new gamers alike through the virtual console system, but also from the fact that many developers still use the old fashioned 8-bit style because it's so iconic. The Nintendo Entertainment System/Family Computer System is easily one of the most widely known consoles ever, and it is unlikely that it will ever be forgotten.
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Museum worthy for sure, but strangely, I bought more rotten NES games than for any other console. There was a time I assumed movie licensed games had to be good.
The Video Game Crash of 1983 caused people to not buy games.But then,2 years later,Nintendo made the NES.The console was made to play games and have fun.And it also made the crash to end.That's why the NES is remembered from us today.
The NES has to have more classic games than any other console. I'm STILL discovering games I never played back in the day for it that are just as good as the games I know all too well.
It is easily one of the best consoles ever made and it still holds up today.
“A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish.”
― G.K. Chesterton
Before the 8-bit generation, video games were mostly enjoyed through now-ancient methods such as Pong and Atari. All was going well until a series of mistakes ultimately led to the apparent destruction of all video gaming, leaving it seemingly left for dead by 1984. It wasn't until then-small company showed off their fun, creative ideas with Donkey Kong arcade, giving Nintendo a chance at the spotlight, justified it, and we loved it.
Backloggery. Now playing: 3D Dot Game Heroes, Donkey Kong, EarthBound Beginnings, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+.
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I don't think there's any question that the NES was a very important system, and that it has influenced gaming up to this day. As for whether or not NES games have stood the test of time; the fact that they're still getting sales on the Virtual Console should be proof enough. Having never owned an NES I'm surprised at how well many of these games hold up today, and am greatly enjoying slowly making my own way through the library of games for the system.
I would say that the NES is extremely important, and like others have said, it pretty much saved the games industry. I don't know if this legacy has lived on however, as most of today's generation of kids/teens fail to realize how important it actually was. In my school, very few kids know what the NES is/was, and most of them that do constantly hate on it whenever it is brought up in a games discussion, and then go talk about more FPS. Little do these people know that without the NES, there would most likely be no Xbox 360/PS3/Wii U to play your Call of Duty and Halo, etc. on. And the said part about this whole situation is that the NES library is much more creative and fun to play than most modern games (with a few exceptions of course), in my opinion.
I would say that the NES is extremely important, and like others have said, it pretty much saved the games industry. I don't know if this legacy has lived on however, as most of today's generation of kids/teens fail to realize how important it actually was. In my school, very few kids know what the NES is/was, and most of them that do constantly hate on it whenever it is brought up in a games discussion, and then go talk about more FPS. Little do these people know that without the NES, there would most likely be no Xbox 360/PS3/Wii U to play your Call of Duty and Halo, etc. on. And the said part about this whole situation is that the NES library is much more creative and fun to play than most modern games (with a few exceptions of course), in my opinion.
I have had a different experience. I am 18 so Im pretty young but many REAL gamers my age (not just FPS fanboys) appreciate the NES as the birth of modern gaming. Many of the games are still played today by a new generation such as myself. I think SNES has been more noteworthy with my generation in terms of games due to the great variety and its basic achievement of how advanced 2d graphics are pretty much going to work. The NES lives through eshop and emulators. Real gaming didn't start till about the NES.
I don't think you'll ever be able to sum up the significance of the NES in words. It will always be that classic console that will never truly die, it gave birth to Mario, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, Kid Icarus, Zelda, Metroid and the list goes on. Technology, physics, controllers and game engines will constantly get better, but the NES was that pure essence of video game enjoyment that is the foundation of most games we play today.
I think the world would be a very different place if the NES was never created, it really did change the world back then and how we viewed entertainment. Even now, we're still talking about the NES and when the next eShop NES release will be... it will always be a timeless console.
The NES was one of the biggest things ever in gaming. The Atari made video gaming popular, but the NES got families interested in gaming. Before Super Mario Bros, for example, most games were shooters of some sort and/or were intended to be incredibly hard and scary. Super Mario Bros. completely changed that, plus it broke the old formula of having 4 levels to every video game. The NES had good games all around though, and it made gaming fun with all its new titles that anyone could enjoy.
I can't say the NES is remembered as well as it should be, especially by newer gamers. A lot of its games are still fun to play, even today. Timeless classics like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Kid Icarus, Mega Man, and more have been coming to the eShop lately, and some have been remade in 3D, which I think is a great way to show new gamers Nintendo's older games and introduce them to series. Personally, I would never have played Mega Man if it hadn't come to 3DS VC.
All in all, though, the NES really laid the foundation for fun gaming and family gaming all those years ago, and its legacy still shines today.
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Topic: Your View Feature - The legacy of the Famicom / NES and where it stands today
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