• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

40 years ago, Nintendo released its first console!

P

protomouse

Member
In the past couple of years we've seen PlayStation celebrate its 20th anniversary, and Xbox its 15th anniversary. This month, another industry player - Nintendo - quietly celebrates its 40th as a console maker. On June 1st 1977, Nintendo launched its first video game system - the Color TV Game 6 pong console - exclusively in Japan:

tv_game_6_beforemario_dot_com_13.JPG
Click to expand...

Wikipedia categorizes it as a first generation console, along with the iconic Magnavox Odyssey and a wave of other pong consoles. The system was briefly featured in the Angry Video Game Nerd Episode 89.

I unfortunately missed the anniversary date by a few days, but didn't see anyone else make a thread for it. Feel free to share your sentiments about this system and your fondest moments with Nintendo hardware. Happy belated 40th anniversary for Nintendo consoles!
 
O

Otnopolit

Member
And thus, a tradition of confusing/bad branding had begun!

I kid, despite this being a very confusing name for a product... Their roots run deep, and they continue to. Congrats, Ninty.
 
petran79

petran79

Banned
I missed those early consoles but I remember Nintendo's early 80s arcade games like Donkey Kong Junior.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
I'm kinda surprised people born in 77 are just now turning 40, makes me feel time isn't going so fast for my sake
 
-shadow-

-shadow-

Member
Still a fun idea that so many still forget (and rightfully so however) that this happened before the NES was released. Such a strange idea though.
 
M

Maxrunner

Member
bionic77 said:
Outside of Sega what company comes close to what they did for the industry?
Click to expand...

His top 10 is:


#92
1. Doom
2. Prey
3. Wolfenstein: The New Order
4. Hitman
5. Dishonored 2
6. Horizon: Zero Dawn
7. Titanfall 2
8. The Witness
9. Witcher 3
10. Rocket League

off the top of my head.
 
Neff

Neff

Member
Quite amazing that Nintendo are not only the fathers of the modern games industry, but also that they're still around and incredibly successful. You've got to hand it to them.

Dynablast said:
Atari and Commodore.
Click to expand...

Technical pioneers for sure, but I certainly wouldn't put those in the same league as Nintendo or Sega creatively speaking.

Toni said:
Video games would have taken off with or without Nintendo.
Click to expand...

Videogames already had taken off, and imploded. Nintendo is credited with resurrecting a dead industry and turning it into the defining entertainment industry we have today.
 
T

thomaser

Member
I bought one of those a year ago. A part of the power cable is missing, though, so it cannot be used. Would be fun to get it up and running somehow!
 
F

FStubbs

Member
Bah. Underpowered POS console with no third party support and non-standard controllers. Nintendo never changes and should've gone third party.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
1upsuper said:
Love the look of this system.
Click to expand...
I believe it was designed by Miyamoto in one of this first roles. His degree was in industrial design.

Edit: Correction. His first was the Color TV-Game Block Breaker, released two years later in 1979.
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
I used to have a Color TV Game 6, a beige one. Unfortunately, my TV at the time wasn't capable of working with it - I think the Japanese TV frequency it uses matches up to something like channel 97 in the US.

For those arguing about Nintendo's place in video game history, while it is true Nintendo did an amazing job reviving the game industry in the US after the crash, note that the video game crash did not happen in Japan or Europe, and the Famicom came out in Japan in 1983, the same year as the US video game crash, so it's not like they only became big because of helping the US recover. Nintendo would have been just as big a player in the game industry, and their competitors would still have been released and the game industry would have thrived, just not in the US. CD gaming as well got started in Japan with the PC Engine, so Sony would probably have still made a deal with Nintendo to source the CD drive for the SNES, eventually spawning the Sony Playstation.

Eventually someone would have managed to bring one of the new systems to the US, and it would be a totally different industry today. Also, computer gaming didn't crash in the US, so maybe PC gaming would have had a bigger roll had Nintendo not come to the US. It's always fun to think of alternate video game realities...

Also, the way Nintendo revived the industry in the US wasn't all fun and games; it left a big, black, mark that took the industry years to get past: the idea that video games were for kids. Before the crash, game consoles and games were sold in appliance stores like Sears; they were expensive, and adults bought them for their whole families, and the consoles were marketed toward adults as much as kids. The crash scared stores away from selling video games, so Nintendo marketed the NES as a toy, and sold it exclusively in toy stores, making sure the plastic robot toy played a big part in its marketing. After that, for most people in the US video games were seen as for kids until Sony managed to take them mainstream once more. Of course, it wasn't only Nintendo's fault; the crash caused Atari consoles and cartridges to be sold dirt cheap at millions of garage sales, and now kids could afford dozens of games themselves.
 
M

Mr-Joker

Banned
Huh, I wasn't aware that such a thing existed.

I mean I knew that Nintendo released arcade games and had the Game & Watch line before the NES, but not this.

Phediuk said:
rolled my eyes so hard at this.
Click to expand...

Care to explain why his comment caused you to roll your eyes?
 
1

120v

Member
i always found it weird the famicom was only five years later. it wasn't until circa '90 or so that i wrapped my head around what a "nintendo" was, and i grew up with an atari 2600 in the household

when you factor in marketing, localization, state of the market, ect it makes sense but i find it amusing i found a technological fossil so mindblowing at the time
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
meppi said:
SgtCobra said:
Sega? Microsoft alone contributed more to the industry than Sega.
Click to expand...
Hahahaaha. Lol not even remotely close.
Click to expand...
Are you aware of the MSX? It was a computer designed and released by Microsoft in Japan (the MicroSoft-X, MSX), that eventually made its way to Europe (for some odd reason, never in the US). It was Microsoft's attempt to standardize the computer industry, so many different manufacturers created MSX computers. The computers accepted cartridges, and many of the biggest Japanese game companies got their start on the MSX, and many of the biggest game series. Metal Gear, Bomberman, DragonQuest, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Contra, all were first created for MSX series computers, and later ported to NES.

Microsoft contributed more for the game industry than many people realize.

Edit:
For fun, here's the MSX version of Final Fantasy.
http://youtu.be/AoccumWjZkM
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Pong, my first videogame.. Time does friggin fly.
 
F

Fiendcode

Member
Dreamwriter said:
Are you aware of the MSX? It was a computer designed and released by Microsoft in Japan (the MicroSoft-X, MSX), that eventually made its way to Europe (for some odd reason, never in the US). It was Microsoft's attempt to standardize the computer industry, so many different manufacturers created MSX computers. The computers accepted cartridges, and many of the biggest Japanese game companies got their start on the MSX, and many of the biggest game series. Metal Gear, Bomberman, DragonQuest, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Contra, all were first created for MSX series computers, and later ported to NES.

Microsoft contributed more for the game industry than many people realize.

Edit:
For fun, here's the MSX version of Final Fantasy.
http://youtu.be/AoccumWjZkM
Click to expand...
Microsoft didn't design the MSX, ASCII did. Microsoft's involvement with MSX was largely promotional at the standard's early days and they delivered the first version of MSX Basic for it. You could argue they were just as involved Dreamcast really thanks to the optional Windows CE kernel. Microsoft also had zero involvement with MSX2, MSX2+, MSX turboR or the canceled MSX3.

ASCII and Sega also had the same parent company (CSK) for awhile. Lots of interesting historical connections between ASCII, Sega and Microsoft if you go back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Korea to focus on fostering console game industry over next 5 years: culture ministry
News 2
59
3K
ButchCat replied
Would you agree that Nintendo has always been better as a portable platform holder vs. a home console one?
Opinion Platform 2
52
3K
SirTerry-T replied
Full Q&A English Summary of Nintendo's Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2024
Business
0
372
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Nintendo wants to avoid scalping with its next console
Game Dev 2 3
128
8K
Silver Wattle replied
GameStop CEO Says Disc Drives Should Be Required On Game Consoles
Opinion Business 2 3 4 5 6
269
13K
TheBTL replied
Top Bottom