Happy 25th birthday, NES

[DaMadFiddler]

Today, October 18, marks the 25th anniversary of the NES' US launch.

October 18, 1985 -- exactly twenty-five years ago today-- is the date that Nintendo of America officially acknowledges as the birthdate of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The NES was first sold in the United States in a test market launch limited to the New York area during the holiday season of that year. About half of Nintendo of America's employees of the time relocated from their Seattle headquarters to a delapidated warehouse in Hackensack, New Jersey, where they worked 18-hour days tearing through the city streets, setting up and tearing down displays, and demonstrating the product to anyone who would listen. The test market was a success, and was followed in February by a similar test in Los Angeles and then, finally, a nationwide roll-out by the end of 1986. World domination came soon afterward.

The first NES sale was at the FAO Schwarz in Manhattan, where Nintendo had an impressive window display and a 15 by 15 foot floor space with several televisions. Gail Tilden, who was at the time Nintendo's advertising manager, recalls watching the first NES -- along with a full set of the additional 15 launch titles -- go through the register. The purchaser turned out to be from a Japanese competitor but, hey, a sale is a sale.

We'll have additional features celebrating the birth of the NES coming up on 1UP throughout the week, including interviews with Nintendo alumni past and present. For now, we recommend blowing the dust off of your Robotic Operating Buddy, polishing up your Zapper, and celebrating the birth of the modern videogame industry in whichever way you know how.

[mrandyk]

Still think this system was the best one.

[Eviltaco64X]

Damn, the NES can rent a car now. One of my favorite consoles of all time.

[pixel]

This can be construed as awesome or pathetic:

Playing Super Mario Bros. 1 is one of my first memories (born in 1986). I didn't have the dexterity to even make it through the first level iirc.

[Juan]

I had a famiclone with "400" bundled games. Actually they were like 20, repeated with different hacks... But how could you not love playing Contra with the spread gun fixed?

I think Battletoads was my first favourite game ever.

[mrandyk]

This can be construed as awesome or pathetic:

Playing Super Mario Bros. 1 is one of my first memories (born in 1986). I didn't have the dexterity to even make it through the first level iirc.

One of my first memories too. I recall waking up in my parent's bed hearing the legendary theme music going on downstairs and I went and watched my older brother play it.

[Specially Cork]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

[Eviltaco64X]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

Conversely, I didn't even see a Master System until a year ago.

[pixel]

My parents were pretty thrifty when I was younger. With three kids, we didn't have a huge budget for thrills. They bought the NES the Christmas before I was born. And until 1995, it was the only console system we owned.

Super Mario Bros. 3 was a complete game changer for me. I was only 3 years old when it came out, but I was so blown away by the sheer size and variety. The graphics, music and gameplay absolutely enthralled me. When it first came out, I constantly pestered my Mom to rent it for me. Every day, I'd spend any waking free moment discovering the game.

Then came Christmas 1990.

Guess what I got? I fucking flipped out. I couldn't believe I owned my own copy of the greatest game of all time. That bright yellow case was forever burned into my being. My brother, at the same time, got Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-road. Good game, but obviously the lesser of two choices.

Now that I had the game for my own, I went into overdrive. Whenever there was a chance to play, I kept finding all the cool stuff in the game. I distinctly remember us singing the chorus from "I've Got the Power" every time someone got a magic wand. Holy crap, we were nerds. /facepalm

After that, there were many great games. Kirby's Adventure drove me into bouts of withdrawal. By the time the Playstation came around, SNES and Genesis systems were easy to come by used. A lot of others systems came and went and I played a lot of video games. But the NES is what I consider the pinnacle -- what everything is based on.

[melancholy]

I wish my memories of the Nintendo were more pleasant. I didn't even own one until Christmas of 91' and the only two games I had for it were Mario/Duck Hunt and Bart Simpson VS The World, which I played the hell out of but could never beat it. My parents never bought me any more games for it. I rented games on and off, but our town only had about 15 games to choose from, and they were all shitty games like Yo Noid and American Gladiators. Anytime they would get a good game in, someone would rent it and never return it. I didn't even get the chance to play Mario 3 until way later, and that was at friend's houses

No, my real gaming days started when I got my Sega Genesis in 94'. Now those were good memories.

[Jeeba Jabba]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

[not just souLLy now]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

I had one, lots of my friends did. Maybe it depended on where you lived in the UK?

[Jeeba Jabba]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

I had one, lots of my friends did. Maybe it depended on where you lived in the UK?

Maybe... All I know on the subject is what i've heard from boney, so that be a bit polarized. But in the US, the NES was *it*.. so much so that many people here today still think that it was the first video game system ever... By the time of its peak, most kids playing it had never heard of Atari, and there was no contender to the Nintendo brand until Genesis.

Imagine no systems made after the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis... until the PS2. And the PS2 was the only system until the Xbox 360.

[Specially Cork]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

I had one, lots of my friends did. Maybe it depended on where you lived in the UK?

Almost certainly. Sonic was amazingly cool when I was a young kid, and all my classmates felt the same. The lone kid who liked Mario was seen as a loser. I can't remember exactly what led up to me owning a Master System, but I'm fairly sure it was related to simply fitting in with other kids I knew and making sure I had the same things they had. I remember nobody was allowed to watch the Mario cartoon on weekday mornings - it was all about the Sonic cartoon on Sundays. Stupid fucking kids.

[Lartrak]

Yeah, lots of good memories with the NES. We got ours fairly late.. I think we got ours at the very beginning of 1990, but I'd been playing them elsewhere for years. I remember going over to the next door neighbor's house, and he got one in like 1986 or 87 (I was born in '83). I can remember when my dad came back from the store with it, and my sister and I rushed over all excited and such. Ah, yeah. It wasn't even Christmas, just winter, and our two years of begging finally paid off. We got Tetris and the packin of Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt. We both had wanted Super Mario Bros 2, but they didn't have it.

Lots of good times... It's still my favorite overall system, and I still buy games for it occasionally today.. I think I have around 120ish right now. Long term goal is to own all the licensed US releases. I have like 600 to go.

[DaMadFiddler]

Long term goal is to own all the licensed US releases. I have like 600 to go.

This could help:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :MEBIDX:IT

[Christuserloeser]

[Jeeba Jabba]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

I had one, lots of my friends did. Maybe it depended on where you lived in the UK?

Almost certainly. Sonic was amazingly cool when I was a young kid, and all my classmates felt the same. The lone kid who liked Mario was seen as a loser. I can't remember exactly what led up to me owning a Master System, but I'm fairly sure it was related to simply fitting in with other kids I knew and making sure I had the same things they had. I remember nobody was allowed to watch the Mario cartoon on weekday mornings - it was all about the Sonic cartoon on Sundays. Stupid fucking kids.

Alright... Wish you had specified. All this time I'm thinking Super Mario wasn't even heard of in the UK.

[pixel]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

I had one, lots of my friends did. Maybe it depended on where you lived in the UK?

Almost certainly. Sonic was amazingly cool when I was a young kid, and all my classmates felt the same. The lone kid who liked Mario was seen as a loser. I can't remember exactly what led up to me owning a Master System, but I'm fairly sure it was related to simply fitting in with other kids I knew and making sure I had the same things they had. I remember nobody was allowed to watch the Mario cartoon on weekday mornings - it was all about the Sonic cartoon on Sundays. Stupid fucking kids.

Alright... Wish you had specified. All this time I'm thinking Super Mario wasn't even heard of in the UK.

I didn't have a lot of friends with video games when I was in elementary school. I went to school in the downtown area of town, and most of those kids either couldn't afford or didn't care about video games. But there were a few that only played the Genesis. Among the group, a good percentage of us had Sega Channel and all the sports games. They used to ridicule me for also having a Super Nintendo. To them, the whole system was childish and dumb. I guess I tended to agree with them, considering how much Gunstar Heroes, Mutant League Football and General Chaos we used to play. However, it didn't stop me from enjoying Super Mario World as much as humanly possible.

My current roommate has never owned a Nintendo system, has never played a Mario game longer than thirty minutes and never liked them. He grew up in the middle of Minnesota. I think the whole system preference thing differs from area to area. I know exactly four people that own a PS3 within the 200 mile radius. Meanwhile, at least a dozen of my friends own a 360.

[mrandyk]

- Never played one in my life
- Never knew anyone that owned one in the UK
- Never even seen one with my own eyes

It didn't perform terribly in the UK, but it's amazing to me how in the US - it's this amazing box of nostalgic memories that every 80s kid owned. Me and my friends grew up on Sega. My first Mario game was 64. Sadly, excluding Sonic, I really wish I'd grown up with Nintendo.

That still blows me away. The NES was the single thing that revived console gaming entirely, in Japan and the US, yet somehow it skipped Europe.. Did Nintendo just not bother, and let the runner-up Sega rush in and grab the market? I've really never looked into it... No one here knew what Sega was until the Genesis and Sonic. I've seen the Master System once--a few years ago in a shop. I was an only child who grew up living with his grandfather, so I had every game system and notable game release in existence... and didn't learn of the Master System's existence until I was around 13 (I was born in 86)

I had one, lots of my friends did. Maybe it depended on where you lived in the UK?

Almost certainly. Sonic was amazingly cool when I was a young kid, and all my classmates felt the same. The lone kid who liked Mario was seen as a loser. I can't remember exactly what led up to me owning a Master System, but I'm fairly sure it was related to simply fitting in with other kids I knew and making sure I had the same things they had. I remember nobody was allowed to watch the Mario cartoon on weekday mornings - it was all about the Sonic cartoon on Sundays. Stupid fucking kids.

Alright... Wish you had specified. All this time I'm thinking Super Mario wasn't even heard of in the UK.

I didn't have a lot of friends with video games when I was in elementary school. I went to school in the downtown area of town, and most of those kids either couldn't afford or didn't care about video games. But there were a few that only played the Genesis. Among the group, a good percentage of us had Sega Channel and all the sports games. They used to ridicule me for also having a Super Nintendo. To them, the whole system was childish and dumb. I guess I tended to agree with them, considering how much Gunstar Heroes, Mutant League Football and General Chaos we used to play. However, it didn't stop me from enjoying Super Mario World as much as humanly possible.

My current roommate has never owned a Nintendo system, has never played a Mario game longer than thirty minutes and never liked them. He grew up in the middle of Minnesota. I think the whole system preference thing differs from area to area. I know exactly four people that own a PS3 within the 200 mile radius. Meanwhile, at least a dozen of my friends own a 360.

I'm pretty sure that I grew up less than 60 miles away from where you did and the only people I ever knew to own a Genesis (or any Sega console actually) were my cousins who lived in Nebraska. The Genesis was just completely unheard of in my town. I still think Im the only one in this town to ever play one, all my friends make fun of me for playing any Sega console but they are just a bunch of dipshits who have never played any Sega system and are just following the crowd or something. But yea, Nintendo was the only thing anyone owned here.