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1991 TV news story: 'Parents Upset Over a New Nintendo Console"

F

Forkball

Member
The Super Nintendo... will RETAIL FOR...

ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE US DOLLARS

That guy's F-Zero skills were unrivaled.
 
C

canoli2006

Member
Bart: Hmm. Maybe if I stand next to the games looking sad, someone
will feel sorry for me and buy me one.

Woman: Gavin, don't you already have this game?

Gavin: No, Mom, you idiot! I have Bloodstorm, and Bone Squad, and
Bloodstorm II, stupid.

Woman: Oh, I'm sorry, honey. We'll take a Bonestorm.

Gavin: Get two. I'm not sharing with Kaitlin!
 
U

Ultratech

Member
I laughed at "weapon manufacturer".

And that F-Zero segment was pretty cool for being in the 90s.

Though I'm surprised they more or less spoiled SMW's last boss fight.
 
A

akihara

Member
Feel free to take this all with a grain of salt, but the story that follows is all TRUE:

That is MY hand putting the Super Mario World cartridge into the Super Famicom at the 37 second mark. This is a local news story (from where I don't know) that is made up mostly of clips from a national NBC Nightly News story that I appeared in in August of 1991. The therapy section, the woman in the store (the Toys R Us I worked in at the time), and my hand all come from the NBC story. Most of the in game footage looks direct feed, and I don't remember the NBC crew taking that during my filming, so I cannot verify the source of the 'Super Mario 4' title screen. But I think I remember it saying that on the title screen of my own copy.

At the time, Nintendo would not supply NBC with any footage of SNES games, so that is why they spoke to me, so they could at least get some footage of the thing. I did appear in the original NBC story as well, but the local channel obviously cut me out. Since it was '91, I only had a VHS copy of it but that has since been lost in the mists of time. So imagine my surprise when I check out GAF today and see this! I contacted the guy who posted this on Youtube and asked him if he had the original story too. No response so far.

And that is NOT me playing F-ZERO. I had much better skills than that, like those of a 9 or 10 year old at least.
 
C

Chairhome

Member
akihara said:
Feel free to take this all with a grain of salt, but the story that follows is all TRUE:

That is MY hand putting the Super Mario World cartridge into the Super Famicom at the 37 second mark. This is a local news story (from where I don't know) that is made up mostly of clips from a national NBC Nightly News story that I appeared in in August of 1991. The therapy section, the woman in the store (the Toys R Us I worked in at the time), and my hand all come from the NBC story. Most of the in game footage looks direct feed, and I don't remember the NBC crew taking that during my filming, so I cannot verify the source of the 'Super Mario 4' title screen. But I think I remember it saying that on the title screen of my own copy.

At the time, Nintendo would not supply NBC with any footage of SNES games, so that is why they spoke to me, so they could at least get some footage of the thing. I did appear in the original NBC story as well, but the local channel obviously cut me out. Since it was '91, I only had a VHS copy of it but that has since been lost in the mists of time. So imagine my surprise when I check out GAF today and see this! I contacted the guy who posted this on Youtube and asked him if he had the original story too. No response so far.

And that is NOT me playing F-ZERO. I had much better skills than that, like those of a 9 or 10 year old at least.
Click to expand...
That's awesome. Are you the guy with the Kid N' Play flattop? jk.

So how did you get your hands on the SFC? Was it just during the focus test?
 
M

meppi

Member
Dark Octave said:
Neogeo was somewhere around $1,000 back then wasn't it?
Click to expand...


That can't be right.

I clearly remember the Neo Geo being 18000 Belgium Francs and games being up to 8000-12000 over here, which comes to €450 and €200-€300.

Also both Dutch and Flamish gamers will probably remember this, which backs up what I remember seeing and playing in a little game shop long ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR1Nz7TaM1I

;)
 
R

ryūkotsusei

Member
"Even if I am in reverse"

icanpygamez.gif
 
Z_Y

Z_Y

Member
akihara said:
Feel free to take this all with a grain of salt, but the story that follows is all TRUE:

That is MY hand putting the Super Mario World cartridge into the Super Famicom at the 37 second mark. This is a local news story (from where I don't know) that is made up mostly of clips from a national NBC Nightly News story that I appeared in in August of 1991. The therapy section, the woman in the store (the Toys R Us I worked in at the time), and my hand all come from the NBC story. Most of the in game footage looks direct feed, and I don't remember the NBC crew taking that during my filming, so I cannot verify the source of the 'Super Mario 4' title screen. But I think I remember it saying that on the title screen of my own copy.

At the time, Nintendo would not supply NBC with any footage of SNES games, so that is why they spoke to me, so they could at least get some footage of the thing. I did appear in the original NBC story as well, but the local channel obviously cut me out. Since it was '91, I only had a VHS copy of it but that has since been lost in the mists of time. So imagine my surprise when I check out GAF today and see this! I contacted the guy who posted this on Youtube and asked him if he had the original story too. No response so far.

And that is NOT me playing F-ZERO. I had much better skills than that, like those of a 9 or 10 year old at least.
Click to expand...
We are in the presence of greatness, fellas.




Just kidding. That is an awesome coincidence.
 
A

akihara

Member
Chairhome said:
That's awesome. Are you the guy with the Kid N' Play flattop? jk.

So how did you get your hands on the SFC? Was it just during the focus test?
Click to expand...

I wasn't part of the focus test. I imported one, since they came out a year (?) earlier in Japan.
 
T

test_account

XP-39C²
Lol, kinda funny how they spoil some of the ending of Super Mario World, but i guess most kids back then didnt care too much about that, not knowing that it was the final boss.
 
K

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Ironically the feelings of the parents in the report are a good example of how the actual average person sees entertainment. People care about the content, not the delivery system. In fact, people (in any era) can be very suspicious of gimmicks in the content delivery system - trying to make one form look special in order to sell a gadget or an upgrade.

It's telling that another one of the most comment remarks by parents back in the day was "why do all these video games have different systems? Why don't all video games play the same games, like all TVs show the same broadcasts?"

What hardcore fans don't realize is that the average person (which can include the average gamer) sees having to buy new hardware as a hassle; it's something they don't want to do unless the difference in paradigm is absolutely massive. Most people just want games, regardless of whether the game has the highest tech graphics currently possible, etc.
 
H

Heart of Black

Member
Hysterical. I like the intercutting of NES controllers playing Super Mario World and the idea that it's just the pictures that people preferred instead of the game content.
 
P

Parallax Scroll

Banned
I remember when SNES came out, my dad was appalled that it didn't play NES games. Pretty much every time a new console came out he would ask if it could play old games. I was like, who cares? I have NES already.
 
W

WillyFive

Member
Kaijima said:
Ironically the feelings of the parents in the report are a good example of how the actual average person sees entertainment. People care about the content, not the delivery system. In fact, people (in any era) can be very suspicious of gimmicks in the content delivery system - trying to make one form look special in order to sell a gadget or an upgrade.

It's telling that another one of the most comment remarks by parents back in the day was "why do all these video games have different systems? Why don't all video games play the same games, like all TVs show the same broadcasts?"

What hardcore fans don't realize is that the average person (which can include the average gamer) sees having to buy new hardware as a hassle; it's something they don't want to do unless the difference in paradigm is absolutely massive. Most people just want games, regardless of whether the game has the highest tech graphics currently possible, etc.
Click to expand...

Completely correct.
 
PooBone

PooBone

Member
Willy105 said:
Before people were used to the idea of a new console coming out every five or so years....the Super Nintendo came out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls&feature=feedu

This local news story shows parent's opinions over Nintendo releasing a brand new console. They noted that the new console couldn't even play NES games, and complained that this was the company trying to steal money from their kids.

This is also notable because it has beta footage of Super Mario World (with the name Super Mario Bros. 4 still in the title).
Click to expand...


WOW, that is crazy. Thanks for posting this!
 
I

IndieJones

Member
Couple things:

A) If you're a REALLY good player - at the skill level of a nine or ten year old...

B) That "Just gonna say no" mom had some real Parker Posey levels of bitchiness, like, almost off the charts.
 
Muffdraul

Muffdraul

Member
IndieJones said:
A) If you're a REALLY good player - at the skill level of a nine or ten year old...
Click to expand...

Let's face it, generally speaking video games truly were "children's toys" in those days. We were all fully aware of it at the time.
 
B

Bending_Unit_22

Member
Parallax Scroll said:
I remember when SNES came out, my dad was appalled that it didn't play NES games. Pretty much every time a new console came out he would ask if it could play old games. I was like, who cares? I have NES already.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I had to argue my case for getting a SNES in front of my mother and a couple aunts. That was one thing that shocked them, the others were why didn't I want 4 NES games instead and (since they weren't familiar with the concept of having more than 1 thing hooked up to a TV) what good would that NES that so much was spent on so recently be?
 
K

kame-sennin

Member
Kaijima said:
Ironically the feelings of the parents in the report are a good example of how the actual average person sees entertainment. People care about the content, not the delivery system. In fact, people (in any era) can be very suspicious of gimmicks in the content delivery system - trying to make one form look special in order to sell a gadget or an upgrade.

It's telling that another one of the most comment remarks by parents back in the day was "why do all these video games have different systems? Why don't all video games play the same games, like all TVs show the same broadcasts?"

What hardcore fans don't realize is that the average person (which can include the average gamer) sees having to buy new hardware as a hassle; it's something they don't want to do unless the difference in paradigm is absolutely massive. Most people just want games, regardless of whether the game has the highest tech graphics currently possible, etc.
Click to expand...

Was waiting for someone to say this. Hardware manufacturers, especially Nintendo due to their focus on the mass market, need to understand this.
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
F-Zero footage was priceless. Someone needs to gif tha--

FullMetal said:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/everett89_photo/temp-320-18028807.gif
Click to expand...
Thank you. *right-click, Save As*

Also, LOL @ the anchor's hair. Oh my...

slaughterking said:
Grooveraider has a lot of great 'historical' stuff on his channel. "Nintendo Accused of Monopolizing The Gaming Industry - circa 1991" is also fun to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwd56K7rp7A
Click to expand...
Thank you. I had heard about this situation a long time ago, but nice to see someone talk about it/document it in video-form from that era.


Kaijima said:
Ironically the feelings of the parents in the report are a good example of how the actual average person sees entertainment. People care about the content, not the delivery system. In fact, people (in any era) can be very suspicious of gimmicks in the content delivery system - trying to make one form look special in order to sell a gadget or an upgrade.

It's telling that another one of the most common remarks by parents back in the day was "why do all these video games have different systems? Why don't all video games play the same games, like all TVs show the same broadcasts?"

What hardcore fans don't realize is that the average person (which can include the average gamer) sees having to buy new hardware as a hassle; it's something they don't want to do unless the difference in paradigm is absolutely massive. Most people just want games, regardless of whether the game has the highest tech graphics currently possible, etc.
Click to expand...
Kaijima speaking the truth once again. A lot of my friends and family members who only casually game find it an absolute hassle to upgrade just to play the games they want (some of them don't care if it is a technical marvel, but care more about the game's fun factor, for instance).
 
B

Bending_Unit_22

Member
kame-sennin said:
Was waiting for someone to say this. Hardware manufacturers, especially Nintendo due to their focus on the mass market, need to understand this.
Click to expand...
I don't know that that is still the case or if it is that it is to anywhere like the extent it was 20 years ago. I think most people have gotten used to the concept of frequent (to the extent every 5 years is frequent these days) hardware upgrades. 1991 adults were of the period of having a record player all their lives before they upgraded to some form of tape around a decade or 2 earlier.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I remember seeing an imported Super Famicom w/ SMW at a game store when I was 6. Holy shit. My mind was blown! I blame that moment for what I've become today!
 
A

Apdiddy

Member
Awesome, Kid from Kid & Play is on this, you know this is SERIOUS. Video games being expensive.

AIN'T GONNA HURT NOBODY WE JUST DANCIN' Y'ALL

Oh, it's just a kid with a high-top fade, nevermind.
 
S

ScionOfTheRisingSun

Banned
I guess the whole bat guano loco everyone and their dog involved million system wrangle of the 70-80's went right over their heads then?

Besides the NES had a lot of good games coming out in the 90's, Nintendo could stand to learn from their past selves. If they were smart they would focus all of their casual attention on the Wii instead of dropping it like a bag of rubbish as they rush along with the more expensive and core focused U.
 
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