Video: Learn a Little More About the History of Super NES

Did You Know Gaming? does its thing

by Thomas Whitehead Sun 24th Jul 2016

A lot of retro gaming chatter right now, courtesy of the upcoming minitiarised version, is focused on the NES. Yet its successor has a fascinating history - the Super NES arrived in a time of notable upheaval in the gaming market, with the so-called 'Bit Wars' as SEGA grappled for supremacy with Nintendo.

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It was a period where power in the industry shifted and the battle over the growing gaming audience was intense. Did You Know Gaming? has taken a look at SNES history, from its origins and the differing designs between territories, to advertising tactics and congressional hearings.

Tom has been involved in the games industry for over a decade, mostly writing about it or struggling to sell Indie games. Loves reading, writing, hunting Capcom’s fiercest monsters and watching baseball.

1
Joeynator3000
Sun 24th Jul 2016

You're late. lol

2
MarcelRguez
Sun 24th Jul 2016

Best console.

3
Kirk
Sun 24th Jul 2016

Watched this the other day and enjoyed it. Added it to my favourites list.

4
mikegamer
Sun 24th Jul 2016

@Marce2240 Dang right, first console I played back in 1993, I was only eight

5
Serpenterror
Sun 24th Jul 2016

@3MonthBeef Even if the SNES version had blood and gore, the game would had still flopped. That version plays terrible, control were quite wonky, and there are way too much bugs to really enjoy.

6
Luna-Harmony
Sun 24th Jul 2016

Very cool info and old footage.

7
ogo79
Sun 24th Jul 2016

i am overqualified to watch this.

8
SLIGEACH_EIRE
Mon 25th Jul 2016

I forgot about Rik Mayall doing SNES adverts. He did a load of them and they very good and funny. It was so sad when he tragically died.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w24KR30nEsg

I did learn a few things from the video. Right at the end it mentions that Gamecube had planned to have motion controls. As far as I'm aware this was considered realistically as a peripheral late in the consoles life cycle not from the get go. But decided to launch it with the Wii instead.

9
Uncensored
Mon 25th Jul 2016

I recall it costed $200 when I was a child.

10
SH007ME
Mon 25th Jul 2016

...a fun watch..it's funny, all this mini NES hype and want for a mini SNES, when there already is an SNES mini (jr, 2), my favorite SNES..

SNS-101

11
KingMike
Mon 25th Jul 2016

@Uncensored I think it launched at $200 with SMW and 2 controllers. One year later they released the "basic" system with 1 controller and no game for $100, I think. They probably dropped the Mario set to like $150 by then.
I do recall Nintendo being pretty price-competitive with the Genesis.