Nintendo

Nintendo. It defined my younger years probably making me who I am today. So, with me strongly accepting of my procrastination to do school work, this blog shall be written, detailing a little bit about Nintendo Gaming Systems.

The Nintendo company originally started in 1889 in Japan to produce handmade cards. As the years progressed they moved onto several small other businesses, such as a taxi company. The sales in these departments dropped over the years, leaving Nintendo in debt.

Then the Electronic Era came along. Nintendo saw the popularity of video games and decided they would try their luck in this market. Their first arcade game Computer Othello was created in 1978. Following this were titles such as Radar and Donkey Kong.



The first gaming system created by Nintendo that struck it big was the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES for short and was released in 1983. It was an 8-bit system and was released in North America, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It's the most successful gaming console of its time in North America and Asia, selling over 60 million units worldwide. I have not had the pleasure of playing this system myself, but I have, however, played several of the games released on it (through games such as Animal Crossing released on GameCube). The NES games are so simple, yet strangely addicting. Games such as Donkey Kong and Pinball being amoung these.



The next system released by Nintendo was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNES. It's a 16-bit system released in 1990 to countries such as North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. After its release the SNES became the best selling 16-bit console in it's era selling more than 49 million systems worldwide. I remember the first time I played a Super Nintendo as it was known. My best friend when I was in primary school had one. I remember playing MarioKart, or something similar. Also, oddly, my dentist had a SNES. So I used to play Yoshi while waiting my turn. This was probably when I first grew attached to Nintendo and it's characters.



The Nintendo 64 or N64 was released in 1996 and was Nintendo's third home video console. It was released with games such as Super Mario 64 and Pilot Wings 64. It sold over 32 million systems worldwide. This is where my video game addiction truly started. I was 8 years old, and already owned an original green coloured Nintendo GameBoy which I was lucky enough to recieve for my 7th birthday. More about that later though. I was 8 years old, and watching the television, when a long red tounge and a sound of which could only have been created by a Yoshi flung across the screen. It was advertising a video game - Yoshi's Story. I must have asked my mother for that video game. And for my 9th birthday I recieved a Nintendo 64 complete with the game Yoshi's Story. For years after my game collection grew, including key titles such as Zelda: Ocarina of Time, MarioKart, Super Mario 64 and Super Smash Brothers. I still have it today, nearly 9 years after my 9th birthday. I don't nearly play it as often as I should, but I did manage to get my 4 year old cousin hooked on MarioKart.



As the year 2000 came around Nintendo released the GameCube. This was their first console where the game was a disc, not a cartridge. The small disc size meant that this system was purely for gaming pleasure, and not a multipurpose system such as PlayStation. The GameCube has sold over 21 million copies world wide. I am also lucky enough to own a GameCube. Well, my younger sister is. Even though my heart will always belong to the N64, the games released on GameCube have amazing graphics. The controller is perfect. Probably the most comfortable controller ever, with all the buttons and joysticks situated in exactly the right place. The GameCube has games such as Zelda: Windwaker, Super Smash Brothers Mellee and MarioKart Double Dash. All these games being follow ups from its N64 predescesor, but still with exellent gameplay.



Nintendos most recent gaming console is the Wii. The main feature of this console is it's wireless motion sensor controller, allowing the user to become even more involved in the game. It is even able to connect to the internet to receive messages and updates. And, like the GameCube, it is the most smallest and compact system of its generation. I am not lucky enough to own a Wii, or to even have played one as yet. But, I hear they're amazing. So, maybe in the future my luck will change.

By writing a blog about Nintendo, it would be stupid to forget to comment on the Nintendo GameBoy as it is one of the worlds best selling game system lines. It has sold over 188 million units world wide. There are several different Game Boy types. These being the original GameBoy (which I was lucky enough to own), GameBoy Pocket, GameBoy colour, GameBoy Advance, GameBoy Advance SP, GameBoy Micro, and most recently GameBoy DS.

I won't go into detail about these. In fact, I shall save them for another blog, as they deserve it.

So there you have it. Nintendo. It defined my childhood and will always come first to me over PlayStation, Xbox, or any of the future gaming consoles that are yet to be released.


References: Wikipedia andGoogle Images