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[Spiral Insanity]

I like the colored carts and how they contrast the sleek hardware design. Such a shame only Japan had those beautiful carts.

Not defending its use but surely this isn't the first time you've heard someone say that?

No, but in the same sentence as 'Fucking Sony' it triggered more than usual.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I'd love to read about why they changed their advertising style so drastically from this (I guess they just switched ad firms and didn't want to keep this tone?), and why they decided against wireless controllers like they promised. All of this seems to highlight how tricky it was to market a new game system to post-2600 America.

Exactly, after the US video game crash stores didn't want to sell video games anymore. So Nintendo packed the NES with a plastic robot and a gun, marketed it as a toy, and got it into toy stores. And in one fell swoop got video games branded as "only for kids" for a generation (Atari and its competitors had been sold in Sears as gaming appliances)

 

[Tarin02543]

I'd love to see the return of a mechanical console, a device where you have to use push, pull or turn dials and levers.

 

[Manmademan]

Yeah, like people have been saying, leaving the cartridge up was not the instructed way to do it. Nobody is saying it was the way you were 'supposed' to do it. Just that it was something that could be done if the pins weren't damaged by use.

this isn't correct. a brand new out of the box factory NES would absolutey, positively NOT play games in the up position.

 

[ZeroCoin]

this isn't correct. a brand new out of the box factory NES would absolutey, positively NOT play games in the up position.

That's kinda the whole point of the disagreement/argument. One side says that is correct, one side says it's wrong.

 

[Dreamwriter]

That's kinda the whole point of the disagreement/argument. One side says that is correct, one side says it's wrong.

Alright, time to settle this. Someone buy this and test it out:

eBay NES Action Set New in Box $849.99

 

[Manmademan]

That's kinda the whole point of the disagreement/argument. One side says that is correct, one side says it's wrong.

yes, and the side that says it isn't correct is the side that bought those boxes at launch (or at least close to it)- and there are quite a few of us universally saying the same thing. A New NES did not work in the up position. Refurbish the thing incorrectly, replace the pins, use a game genie, or have one that's close to failure and it might.

The one jackass that claimed to have bought one in 86, going back and forth with me arguing otherwise was proven to be lying by his own comment history.

and yes, we're all aware that nintendo's original design for the NES was flawed, and eventually the pins would become bent to the point where they did not work no matter what you did. Thus the design of the NES2.

 

[BocoDragon]

I remember the late 80s/early 90s well.

Don't push the cart down = grey screen + blinking red light.

At least on my NES and all those of my friends, of course.

I had an aftermarket 72pin connector that you didn't need to push down on but those are some 2000-era memories.

 

[DeadTrees]

So Nintendo packed the NES with a plastic robot and a gun, marketed it as a toy, and got it into toy stores. And in one fell swoop got video games branded as "only for kids" for a generation (Atari and its competitors had been sold in Sears as gaming appliances)

The toy store/department store dichotomy here is straight-up false--the 2600 and NES were sold in both.

 

[Shig]

The controls look like they'd be a pain, but I dig the aesthetic a lot. Wish they'd have thrown the buttons we got onto that design.

 

[magnetic]

Great looking design, and boy, I live those sleek 80s ads. Lots of white space, reflections, big fonts.

 

[Manmademan]

The toy store/department store dichotomy here is straight-up false--the 2600 and NES were sold in both.

yeah, I was going to mention that but got distracted.

the big difference between the 2600 (and intellivision, colecovision, etc) approach is that nintendo's games were all licensed. only they could manufacture carts, and there was a lockout chip in the system to ensure it stayed that way. (outside of the issue with Tengen, of course).

The pre-NES systems didn't use this, and any third party could flood the market with as many games as it wanted, leading to price wars, tons of unsold stock, etc.

retailers were happier to carry the NES because it didn't do this, though nintendo was extremely agressive about pressuring retailers who carried the NES to not carry any competing systems. They very nearly got hauled in front of the supreme court for anti-competitive practices.

The "nintendo as kids toy" thing I think (and this is speculation, not hard data) goes back entirely to nintendo's marketing with the system- colorful mascots, kid friendly merchandising, "The wizard", etc. Nintendo also implemented censorship policies to keep anything that wasn't child friendly out of their games. There used to be a writeup somewhere from the makers of Maniac Mansion on this that's just hilarious to read.

 

[Giftofgab24]

It's kinda like people who say "Famicon" instead of "Famicom" just to be "correct"

It's famicom though isn't it? Short for family computer.

 

[nny]

That prototype is beautiful.

 

[Lupin the Third]

Really neat find!

I think it's under cloth because they're hiding what the games on the system looks like, not the console itself (a TV is under the cloth, not a console).

The console is also resting in front of the TV. You can see it's also draped over.

 

[Amalthea]

I wonder if anybody made a casemod to make a regular NES look like the prototype.

 

[Lupin the Third]

I wonder if anybody made a casemod to make a regular NES look like the prototype.

The appropriately named AVS is about as close as you could reasonably ask for.
http://www.retrousb.com/product_inf...id=78&osCsid=08c8d1092b36b4d3aa9b334940853819

 

[chifanpoe]

This was the first time I remember seeing it as a kid, Sears wishbook.

 

[B1gg_Randall]

100% did not need to press the cart down.

The only reason you have to now is because the pins are bent out of shape from pressing it down.

Wow! I did this when I was lil and the NES just blank on and off.

 

[Manmademan]

This was the first time I remember seeing it as a kid, Sears wishbook.

LOL @ those prices.

$34.99 for gyromite and Stack-Up in 1985 is $78.48 in 2016 money. damned near $80.

Wow! I did this when I was lil and the NES just blank on and off.

it worked that way for everyone with an original NES unit. that poster was wrong.

 

[B1gg_Randall]

LOL @ those prices.

$34.99 for gyromite and Stack-Up in 1985 is $78.48 in 2016 money. damned near $80.



it worked that way for everyone with an original NES unit. that poster was wrong.

Crazy! Thanks.

 

[2+2=5]

Why there's a VHS near a ps2 slim?

silver ps2 slim

or even better black ps2 slim + grey stickers

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

You have to push the cart down on an NES to play the game. There is no argument.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Neat. Looks like so many computer brand (Apple and IBM, in particular) print ads from that era. Thankfully, we got a further redesign.

'Ninty'...

And what's wrong with using a shortened form of a name? It's not uncommon for three-syllable proper names to receive them in regular conversation. I've used that term since the '80s.

 

[eyeball_kid]

This was the first time I remember seeing it as a kid, Sears wishbook.

Even at the time we all knew that robot was pointless. I remember a bunch of us went to a kid's house down the street when the NES first came out, and he had R.O.B. and basically everything for it. First and last time I ever saw anyone play that thing.

Love that ending line, "Order Early . . . avoid disappointment"

 

[Chittagong]

ah, I missed that one. I was looking at this.

but yeah, that text says they wanted them to be IR. Very good thing they didn't.

Yeah IR based NES Double Player was hideous... but NES Satellite worked ok, no?

 

[Princess Viola]

It's famicom though isn't it? Short for family computer.

Family Computer transliterated into Japanese kana is ファミリーコンピュータ, which romanized would read 'Famirī Konpyūta'.

And of course, Famicom would be ファミコン or Famikon.

But of course, considering that the actual Famicom actually says Family Computer, in English, on the system, yeah I don't know why some people think Famicon is correct.

 

[john tv]

And what's wrong with using a shortened form of a name? It's not uncommon for three-syllable proper names to receive them in regular conversation. I've used that term since the '80s.

Nothing wrong if you're in Europe. "Ninty" was a U.K. expression, if I'm not mistaken, right?

Some more AVS and NES prototype pics from the displays at the Nintendo NYC store (courtesy of aparisi2274):

 

[Breakage]

The console looks modern.

 

[Theonik]

Family Computer transliterated into Japanese kana is ファミリーコンピュータ, which romanized would read 'Famirī Konpyūta'.

And of course, Famicom would be ファミコン or Famikon.

But of course, considering that the actual Famicom actually says Family Computer, in English, on the system, yeah I don't know why some people think Famicon is correct.

It's worse because ン it is used both as an 'n' sound as well as a 'm' sound. So it's pretty clear that the intention here was Famicom. In fact look at the Link to the Past JP ad. As well as other ads they write it as 'Famicom' vocalisation depends on the ad but both might be used but that's not really the intention.

You'd have this argument even if it was something like Famikomu, with people refusing to drop the U.

 

[Manmademan]

Nothing wrong if you're in Europe. "Ninty" was a U.K. expression, if I'm not mistaken, right?

(Sorry if they're huge - is there an easy way to make them smaller?)

put the images in quotes, it will shrink them down.

 

[Manmademan]

Yeah IR based NES Double Player was hideous... but NES Satellite worked ok, no?

I forgot about that one, because how many games supported 4 players on the NES? I don't remember a single guy that had that thing.

regardless, wiki says the satellite needed 4 "C" batteries and had a range of 15 feet. This is...less than ideal, even for that thing which remained stationary and didn't move around, as controllers tend to do. I used a few controllers that took A batteries and an IR blaster to the NES console- they were REALLY finicky with line of sight and drained AA's pretty damned fast. And for some reason batteries always died at the worst possible time in a stage.

 

[Occam]

The console design is so much better than what was released.

 

[Occam]

Also, Famicom is correct of course. FAMIly COMputer.

 

[Branduil]

I'd love to read about why they changed their advertising style so drastically from this (I guess they just switched ad firms and didn't want to keep this tone?), and why they decided against wireless controllers like they promised. All of this seems to highlight how tricky it was to market a new game system to post-2600 America.

I'm guessing they didn't use wireless controllers because they would have been awful with '80s technology.

 

[Drain You]

Ughhhh...I've always said "Famicon" now I realize I'm kinda dumb. For me I guess it was just slightly easier to say. Even though in my head it was always Family Computer.

 

[turnbuckle]

Neat bit of history here. Thanks, OP!

As for the weird "how does it play" side convo -- 42yo here. My NES that my parents purchased for me for Xmas back in 86 definitely did NOT PLAY carts unless you pushed down. We rented from the video store up the street from my home and would try all sorts of crazy ways to get fucked up cartridges to play. None of my friends' systems played without pressing the carts down either.

Exact same experience. 34 years old now. Got my NES for my 5th bday (July, 21 1987).

I remember very clearly being upset my Nintendo was broken because the game didn't work when I pushed power. But it was because I hadn't pushed the cartridge down.

Maybe through wear and tear it can change to allow it, but absolutely not straight out of the box.

"The cartridge doesn't need to be pushed down" isn't some "the clouds are bushes" mind blowing fact. It's straight up false.

 

[Morfeo]

Amazing find! Always interesting to see stuff from back then.

 

[.JayZii]

It makes me think of Star Trek TNG.

 

[MattKeil]

Exact same experience. 34 years old now. Got my NES for my 5th bday (July, 21 1987).

I remember very clearly being upset my Nintendo was broken because the game didn't work when I pushed power. But it was because I hadn't pushed the cartridge down.

Maybe through wear and tear it can change to allow it, but absolutely not straight out of the box.

"The cartridge doesn't need to be pushed down" isn't some "the clouds are bushes" mind blowing fact. It's straight up false.

This is correct. The original factory-made NES systems will not play the cartridge if it's not pushed down. Period. I was 10 when the NES came out, I encountered dozens of them at various friends' houses, and I worked in used video and video game stores throughout the '90s. The NES does not work out of the box without pushing the cart down. If yours does, it's modded or incorrectly repaired/reassembled.

 

[Manmademan]

Exact same experience. 34 years old now. Got my NES for my 5th bday (July, 21 1987).

I remember very clearly being upset my Nintendo was broken because the game didn't work when I pushed power. But it was because I hadn't pushed the cartridge down.

Maybe through wear and tear it can change to allow it, but absolutely not straight out of the box.

"The cartridge doesn't need to be pushed down" isn't some "the clouds are bushes" mind blowing fact. It's straight up false.

This is correct. The original factory-made NES systems will not play the cartridge if it's not pushed down. Period. I was 10 when the NES came out, I encountered dozens of them at various friends' houses, and I worked in used video and video game stores throughout the '90s. The NES does not work out of the box without pushing the cart down. If yours does, it's modded or incorrectly repaired/reassembled.

It never continues to kill me how adamant some people are about this one, because no one who actually had a NES back then would make this claim, ever.

It's like walking up to a dude and telling him the sky REALLY green and the sun rises in the west.

 

[RedSwirl]

I guess I need to test my NES. The seller told me it was a refurb, but I never tried to play it without the cart pushed down. Never tried back in the day either.

 

[SuperLeviathan]

This was the first time I remember seeing it as a kid, Sears wishbook.

It's amazing to me that we still can't pinpoint the original Super Mario Bros.' release date. This ad would imply Nintendo launched or intended to launch Mach Rider with the NES, but SMB is nowhere to be found..

 

[MulderYuffie]

I thought that game cart was a VHS tape and then I found out it was the controller lol.

 

[wondermega]

That NES trackball looks amazing! I don't believe a trackball ever actually released for the system.. I miss the days of odd, esoteric control peripherals. Also the slanted NES controller looks very similar to a later model Atari console controller which actually did release, I believe.

 

[Lupin the Third]

That NES trackball looks amazing! I don't believe a trackball ever actually released for the system.. I miss the days of odd, esoteric control peripherals. Also the slanted NES controller looks very similar to a later model Atari console controller which actually did release, I believe.

The closest thing was this:

It isn't even a real trackball, it's just a thin plastic dome that leans a bit and "clicks" in the various directions.

 

[Yoshi]

Adding my voice to the push down. My friends NES was never repaired or refurbished, its his childhood console, and it only plays games without pushing down.

Also I've had a game genie since childhood and still use it. You don't push it down.

Well, I don't think anyone doubts there are NES in existence that play games without being pushed down, but the system in question obviously is faulty in a way, because Nintendo has designed the push down mechanism, so they certainly did not intend it to make games not to work.

 

[BlackRainbowFT]

ergonomy at its finest.

the box does look better, though! even as a kid I always thought the NES looked terrible (and I'm glad I had a PAL SNES instead of a NTSC one... those colors... urgh. they remind me of a sunburnt poster).

 

[LeleSocho]

rj11 for controller ports would have been super rad, wish they went for that.

 

[-Mutsukki-]

I thought it WAS. Like what, the cartridge were VHS at first?

same, jesus christ