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[xexex]

Most Americans did not have any idea about Super Mario Bros. 3 until The Wizard movie came out in late 1989. this was the first time most gamers in the western world had heard of SMB3, much less seen it in action. but SMB3 had already been out in Japan since 1988, if i'm not mistaken! how could a game be released in Japan one year and American gamers not know anything about it until a year later ? how can this be?

what comes to mind, for me, is that, back then, things were a lot slower. information traveled slower. there was no internet / WWW for the vast majority of gamers. there was 24 cable news, and there were magazines. yeah, EGM did cover SMB3 in their 2nd issue released summer 1989, but that didn't take away the surprise of SMB3 in the Wizard and the fact that most people didn't know anything about it until that movie. Does that seem reasonable, or are there other reasons?

 

[Ned Flanders]

Umm no internet maybe? Sparse videogaming publications available at the time?

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

No Internet, no magazine info, and we were all (mostly)young kids.

I had no idea it came out in 1988 until years and years later.

 

[suaveric]

Uh, the internet wasn't quite up to today's standard back then. Then the only way for Americans to hear about a game was through magazines. I'm not sure if Nintendo even let them talk about it, but at best all they could have were a few screen shots I'm sure.

 

[Ponn]

No internet. You kids today just don't know how good you have it or how different gaming media is now. :lol

Imagine a world where magazines were your first absolute peek into what was coming out or seeing games for the first time. Imagine not having release dates to go by but vague mentions of a game being out in a certain month and stopping into your local Toys R Us every week in hopes that the game was finally out.

 

[Ned Flanders]

BTW, the first place I saw SMB3 was in late 88 in a skating rink. There was a mutli-game Nintendo cabinet like I have never seen before or since, and I'm pretty sure that each of the first 2 Mario's were included (along with some stuff like Kid Icarus if memory serves). I was completely awestruck when I discovered that SMB3 was a) real and b) playable. I ran and grabbed my other friends to show them and none of us could believe it. It was a sensation that can never be duplicated, because with the way todays gaming world is set up, no game could fly under the radar all the way up until its release, which is both a blessing and a curse.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

Lack of information. I doubt even most NES owners purchased magazines.

 

[xexex]

BTW, the first place I saw SMB3 was in late 88 in a skating rink. There was a mutli-game Nintendo cabinet like I have never seen before or since, and I'm pretty sure that each of the first 2 Mario's were included (along with some stuff like Kid Icarus if memory serves). I was completely awestruck when I discovered that SMB3 was a) real and b) playable. I ran and grabbed my other friends to show them and none of us could believe it. It was a sensation that can never be duplicated, because with the way todays gaming world is set up, no game could fly under the radar all the way up until its release, which is both a blessing and a curse.

was this in the U.S. / UK or Japan ?

 

[Merlin]

That's weird. In the UK the magazine's had import coverage, especially Super Play in the SNES days.

 

[Nintendo Ate My Children]

BTW, the first place I saw SMB3 was in late 88 in a skating rink. There was a mutli-game Nintendo cabinet like I have never seen before or since, and I'm pretty sure that each of the first 2 Mario's were included (along with some stuff like Kid Icarus if memory serves). I was completely awestruck when I discovered that SMB3 was a) real and b) playable. I ran and grabbed my other friends to show them and none of us could believe it. It was a sensation that can never be duplicated, because with the way todays gaming world is set up, no game could fly under the radar all the way up until its release, which is both a blessing and a curse.

I had the exact same experience, except it was at an arcade later in '89. I remember just staring at it, trying to get my 9 year old mind to understand that the game that EGM said wouldn't be available in the U.S. for months was right there in front of me.

BTW, those multi-game Nintendo cabinets were called Playchoice-10's, and they were pretty common, at least in my neck of the woods.

 

[Ned Flanders]

was this in the U.S. / UK or Japan ?

US

 

[Ninja Scooter]

seriously. There was a time when people didn't even know about games until they saw the commericials, even hardcore gamers like myself. I had no idea nintendo was making Super PunchOut and Donkey Kong Country until i saw them in those play it loud commercials. In a way, those were better times. Nowadays we know so much about a game that it almost feels old once it comes out.

 

[SantaC]

the world before public internet was a different one. Imagine that this messageboard wouldn't exist. yeah...

seriously. There was a time when people didn't even know about games until they saw the commericials, even hardcore gamers like myself. I had no idea nintendo was making Super PunchOut and Donkey Kong Country until i saw them in those play it loud commercials. In a way, those were better times. Nowadays we know so much about a game that it almost feels old once it comes out.

QFT

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

You're talking about a time when most of us used store catalogs for game previews!!

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

seriously. There was a time when people didn't even know about games until they saw the commericials, even hardcore gamers like myself. I had no idea nintendo was making Super PunchOut and Donkey Kong Country until i saw them in those play it loud commercials. In a way, those were better times. Nowadays we know so much about a game that it almost feels old once it comes out.

"Those were the days~"

 

[LordPhlegm]

Most Americans did not have any idea about Super Mario Bros. 3 until The Wizard movie came out in late 1989. this was the first time most gamers in the western world had heard of SMB3, much less seen it in action. but SMB3 had already been out in Japan since 1988, if i'm not mistaken! how could a game be released in Japan one year and American gamers not know anything about it until a year later ? how can this be?

Are you saying there's a giant ocean between AMERICA and JAPAN!? No way!

 

[Wario64]

it seems like most of you dont know how we geeks got our information back then. i've actually called the nintendo hotline to confirm release dates back then or to check if a game was released

hell, even those sears catalogs that someone posted scans of a couple months ago was a good source of release dates and information...


the lack of information was actually a good thing sorta cause it got me real hyped whenever i saw a game that i wanted...now today, i see game i want and i dont get the same feeling as during the old days. and by the time the game comes out, i've already seen so many trailers/screenshots/previews that i don't really care anymore

 

[Draff]

Imagine not having release dates to go by but vague mentions of a game being out in a certain month/QUOTE]

You're talking about a time when most of us used store catalogs for game previews!!

Street Fighter 2 Special Champion Edition.
Those Chips and Bits ads had me fooled.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

it seems like most of you dont know how we geeks got our information back then. i've actually called the nintendo hotline to confirm release dates back then or to check if a game was released

hell, even those sears catalogs that someone posted scans of a couple months ago was a good source of release dates and information...

shit! I remember calling the Nintendo hotline to confirm that Killer Instinct was actually coming out for SNES. The chick on the other end was actually really cool about it and would give us info about the game. None of my friends believed me so i actually called from the school payphone to prove it to them. We got busted because a teacher saw us all huddled around the phone and assumed we were calling a porn line.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I didn't know about upcoming releases(outside of those vague lists at the back of Nintendo Power - Rocky for NES coming sometime in Winter 1990, you don't say!) until I started buying EGM in 1991. The only other thing I had to go on was those large unfoldable posters that came with your games(like the ones found in most early Genesis games).

 

[Ponn]

That's weird. In the UK the magazine's had import coverage, especially Super Play in the SNES days.

SNES days saw the start of the change here in the U.S. In the Snes days we finally got GameFan, oh what a great magazine that was. We would pass that damn magazine back and forth between classes for the whole month till the new one came out. Import reviews, anime, and the kick ass Game Cave ads in the back for importing was great all the way up through the Saturn days.

 

[ParkPace]

No internet. You kids today just don't know how good you have it or how different gaming media is now. :lol

Imagine a world where magazines were your first absolute peek into what was coming out or seeing games for the first time.

Hell, in early '89 wasn't Nintendo Power still a 6 issues-per-year publication? Back then, that was about the only magazine I cared about, and practically all of my videogame news came from it.

Imagine not having release dates to go by but vague mentions of a game being out in a certain month and stopping into your local Toys R Us every week in hopes that the game was finally out.

I remember the wait for Battletoads. Every week I'd stop at the mall hoping it would be out. Back then, at least in the U.S., there weren't specific release dates, game reserves, etc.. I even remember this being the case for Zelda ALTTP for SNES as well. I'd head to the mall hoping the game would be out, but I had nothing to go on other than a vague release period.

 

[koam]

You make it sound like it was a big deal. We had no internet back then. There were barely any magazines relating to videogames either and not many people were buying them back then. If you think that's a shock, the first time I found out about the SNES was while watching TGIF. They ran a commercial of super mario world and I was stunned.

"It's a bit more graphics, a bit more sound, a bit more of what you want.. it's super mario world, only for the Super Nintendo Enterntainment System. Now you're playing with power, Super Power." Followed by "Coming on whatever the date was".

That came out of no where. Everyone expected their to be a SMB3 but a Super Nintendo I didn't expect so quickly.

Rocky for NES coming sometime in Winter 1990.

Huh, I don't remember Rocky on the NES?

Oh almost forgot, the only place I got my info was this little newsletter Nintendo would mail to us. It was called Nintendo Power Flash. I was pretty happy to find out about Final Fantasy 1 before its release. They would also run some ads in comic books. There wasn't a comic out there at the time that didn't have a Metal Gear ad in it. The last place was in weekly flyers that would come out for Walmart, Toys R us etc..

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

You make it sound like it was a big deal. We had no internet back then. There were barely any magazines relating to videogames either and not many people were buying them back then either. If you think that's a shock, the first time I found out about the SNES was while watching TGIF. They ran a commercial of super mario world and I was stunned.

"It's a bit more graphics, a more sound, a bit more of what you want.. it's super mario world, only for the Super Nintendo Enterntainment System. Now you're playing with power, Super Power." Followed by "Coming on whatever the date was".

That came out of no where. Everyone expected their to be a SMB3 but a Super Nintendo I didn't expect so quickly.

:lol I remember being pissed at the announcement of the SNES. It was like, "Oh great, I've got an NES and I just got a Genesis and a GameBoy, how'm I gonna convince my parents to buy ANOTHER system?"

I really hated Nintendo for that.

But all things changed when I finally got mine in 1992 along with Mario Kart, Mario World, and Spanky's Quest.

Ahh, good old Spanky.

 

[Ponn]

Hell, in early '89 wasn't Nintendo Power still a 6 issues-per-year publication? Back then, that was about the only magazine I cared about, and practically all of my videogame news came from it.

Actually, I forget the name now but it didn't even start out as Nintendo Power, it was a little bigger then a newsletter and sent out for free. I remember getting the notice that it was going away but not to be sad because it was becoming a full fledged magazine but you had to subscribe to it. Which I ended up doing because back then it was my only lifeline to know what was going on.


NINTENDO FUN CLUB NEWSLETTER!!

That was it...heres a link to it and the first issue of Nintendo Power. I still have that issue too.

http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0751/

 

[koam]

:lol I remember being pissed at the announcement of the SNES. It was like, "Oh great, I've got an NES and I just got a Genesis and a GameBoy, how'm I gonna convince my parents to buy ANOTHER system?

Haha, I remember that too. The Genesis wasn't big yet so I had dismissed it as another Master System at that time. There was also the Turbo Graphics 16 with Bonk's adventure. I remember Radio Shack always advertising that game but they had pulled most of their Nintendo stuff. But anyway, when I saw the SNES in action in a kiosk at Walmart soon after I saw the commercial, I knew my mom would bitch about me already having a "Nintendo", especially since we had an Atari and a CollecoGemini prior to the NES. She eventually gave in and bought me it.

What's funny is that the local game stores around here, even some walmarts, had the old display cases for the NES. They STILL have the same cases, it still writes "Nintendo" on top with the racetrack logo but there's PS2 and Xbox games in there now.

Edit: Hehe I remember calling the Nintendo Power line back in the day for Zelda 2. My parents were so pissed. Oddly enough, I went back and played Zelda 2 about a 2 years ago and I got stuck in the same place. GAMEFAQS to the rescue. Oh speaking of Gamefaqs, kids these days don't know how it was back in the day. We were so hardcore when it came to games because we couldn't rely on guides for most games. We didn't have Gamefaqs so when you played a game and you got stuck, you were screwed. A lot of times, because of either the graphics, the controls or even bugs, you couldn't proceed anymore so you'd try hours and hours until you could figure out what to do next. I remember being suck in Metal Gear, Time zone(?) and Zelda 2. I did use the powerline for Z2 though like i said above.

 

[zabuni]

The lack of magazines really played a role too. Nintendo Power's first issue was in 88. Back then for many people, it was Nintendo Power or nothing.

It's amazing how tight of a control Nintendo had on the information flow. And how many damn games they pimped that never came out.

Don't mind me, I'm still pissed at Secret of Mana 2.

 

[SantaC]

The lack of magazines really played a role too. Nintendo Power's first issue was in 88. Back then for many people, it was Nintendo Power or nothing.

It's amazing how tight of a control Nintendo had on the information flow. And how many damn games they pimped that never came out.

Don't mind me, I'm still pissed at Secret of Mana 2.

it was even worse living in Europe. We had Nintendo Magasinet, a swedish magazine with info that was probably like 3 months old.

though I must admit I was excited everytime that magazine arrived. It was a lot of fun.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

I loved gaming magazine in the early to mid 90's, I was a freakin' game addict and I would reread like an issue of Gameplayers, Gamefan, EGM, or Gamepro like 5 times over and completely love it. That feeling is all gone now, internet seems to make everything so obsolete.

 

[zabuni]

Getting a month's worth of news in a single magazine made for a lot of anticipation. Nowadays, if a sequel to a popular hit game is going to come out, GAF has a post about it an hour after, an interview 2 hours after, and concept art within the week.

To have an impressive game come out of nowhere is a rare thing nowadays. Then again, I haven't purchased a crappy game in quite awhile.

 

[belgurdo]

This reminds me of the days before GameFAQs, when whenever I wanted game strategies or codes I'd take a notebook to the local Waldensoftware or Babbage's and scribble them all down. :lol I also remember buying a copy of GameFan that was supposed to have MK3 info in it and when I got it home I saw that someone had ripped out those pages.

I also miss 400+ page gaming mags. Nowadays everyone wants to be Maxim with the dippy humor and all and the books are all 100 pages long with half of them being ads.

 

[SantaC]

I loved gaming magazine in the early to mid 90's, I was a freakin' game addict and I would reread like an issue of Gameplayers, Gamefan, EGM, or Gamepro like 5 times over and completely love it. That feeling is all gone now, internet seems to make everything so obsolete.

aint that the truth. As a kid I was excited for every little news that I was able to come over. Those were the days when you HAD to figure out something in a game since you couldn't just type in www.gamefaqs.com

 

[Wario64]

the SNES poster foldout in the Robin Hood Nintendo Power issue that had like 20 games shown with a screenshot for each game was like the equivalent of having constant threads about X05 or any other conference, lol

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I loved gaming magazine in the early to mid 90's, I was a freakin' game addict and I would reread like an issue of Gameplayers, Gamefan, EGM, or Gamepro like 5 times over and completely love it. That feeling is all gone now, internet seems to make everything so obsolete.

I bought 'em for the pretty pictures.

Colorful screenshot on top of colorful screenshot. And anime art was completely unknown in the early 90's, and gaming magazines were probably the best source for it at the time.

Magazines are too mature looking nowadays.

They all remind me of the old mag, 'Next Generation'. Except without the excellent articles. And they're about half as thick.

 

[gblues]

Most Americans did not have any idea about Super Mario Bros. 3 until The Wizard movie came out in late 1989. this was the first time most gamers in the western world had heard of SMB3, much less seen it in action. but SMB3 had already been out in Japan since 1988, if i'm not mistaken! how could a game be released in Japan one year and American gamers not know anything about it until a year later ? how can this be?

what comes to mind, for me, is that, back then, things were a lot slower. information traveled slower. there was no internet / WWW for the vast majority of gamers. there was 24 cable news, and there were magazines. yeah, EGM did cover SMB3 in their 2nd issue released summer 1989, but that didn't take away the surprise of SMB3 in the Wizard and the fact that most people didn't know anything about it until that movie. Does that seem reasonable, or are there other reasons?

Nintendo had a nationwide competition in 1988 that also featured playable demos of hundreds of NES games--Mario 3 included. I remember that's when I first got to play it. I went to the Portland, OR stop in the tour (at the expo center), and won a Nintendo hip pack for answering a trivia question. Most awesome videogame-related event of my life.

Nathan

 

[brandonnn]

Yeah, I stood in line for over an hour at the Dallas Nintendo World Championships to get my hands on SMB3 for the first time. The giant koopas in world 4 blew my little mind.

I want to say I'd already seen it in the Wizard, but perhaps it was the other way around. I've still got the NWC pamphlet around here somewhere that'd set the dates straight.

 

[xexex]

Nintendo had a nationwide competition in 1988 that also featured playable demos of hundreds of NES games--Mario 3 included. I remember that's when I first got to play it. I went to the Portland, OR stop in the tour (at the expo center), and won a Nintendo hip pack for answering a trivia question. Most awesome videogame-related event of my life.

Nathan

awesome

 

[Spencerr]

Nintendo needs to have another Nintendo World Championship.

 

[acidviper]

Ca-ca-li-for-nia

Jeez wat a shitty movie.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Ca-ca-li-for-nia

Jeez wat a shitty movie.

You ain't kiddin'.

Still, I'd buy a DVD if I ever saw it.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

it's out on DVD in Germany. it's called Joystick Heroes over there for some reason. there's an online petition to get it out on DVD in the US but i doubt it'll ever get anywhere

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

it's out on DVD in Germany. it's called Joystick Heroes over there for some reason. there's an online petition to get it out on DVD in the US but i doubt it'll ever get anywhere

Who released it, Universal?(Sounds like something they would do in the late 80s)

It'll make it out eventually, I'm sure. These DVD companies are gonna squeeze every last udder.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

yeah Universal released it ... but then in the late nineties they re-released it on VHS thru some family line of video developers called 'funtime video' or something. so i don't know if they have exclusive rights to it now or what. either way, there's alot of pirated versions out there, ubiquitous on ebay.

i never knew the movie had such a following until i looked it up on google a month or two ago

 

[6.8]

I remember playing a SMB3 import after seeing the wizard. My neighbor had rented it, I think. man that was so amazing. I got to play it so early.

 

[ManaByte]

Nintendo had a nationwide competition in 1988 that also featured playable demos of hundreds of NES games--Mario 3 included. I remember that's when I first got to play it. I went to the Portland, OR stop in the tour (at the expo center), and won a Nintendo hip pack for answering a trivia question. Most awesome videogame-related event of my life.

Nathan

The Nintendo World Championships were in 1990 and the competition games were Super Mario Bros, Rad Racer, and Tetris. Not Mario 3.

 

[The Prime Director]

I didn't even know SMB3 was released in Japan two years earlier until very recently. It must have take a long time to translate all that Tolstoy-esque text.

Nice work Nintendo.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I didn't even know SMB3 was released in Japan two years earlier until very recently. It must have take a long time to translate all that Tolstoy-esque text.

Nice work Nintendo.

Actually, I'm sure Nintendo just held the game back because they had just recently released Super Mario Bros. 2 in the US. It wouldn't have made much sense to release Mario 3 so soon after Mario 2 was released. Mario 3 required very little translating(or tweaking in some cases).

 

[The Prime Director]

Actually, I'm sure Nintendo just held the game back because they had just recently released Super Mario Bros. 2 in the US. It wouldn't have made much sense to release Mario 3 so soon after Mario 2 was released. Mario 3 required very little translating(or tweaking in some cases).

They could have released Mario 2 (actually Doki Doki Panic) earlier, but that would have made too much sense. There was no need for the game to be Mario 2 in the first place, but I guess Nintendo didn't want a game where you play as a terrorist.

 

[Liquid]

anyone remember those consumer guide code/game books that you'd get thru scholastic books back in elmentary school? those were cool too.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

They could have released Mario 2 (actually Doki Doki Panic) earlier, but that would have made too much sense. There was no need for the game to be Mario 2 in the first place, but I guess Nintendo didn't want a game where you play as a terrorist.

Well, I suspect Mario 2(US) did take a while to make/translate, since they basically had to redo the entire control scheme and much of the graphics.

Were'nt the characters from DokiDoki Panic based on some children's anime or manga anyway? I'd think that's the main reason why they chose to change it into a Mario game.