why nintendo

[adam_devry]

Ok I know Im going to get alot of people who disagree with me but Im going to ask it anyway. Ok why do people think the NES is one of the best systems ever. Now I know it saved the gaming world but was is really that good. Some game are great but lets say outta the 700 games it has well say about 200 of them are worth playing thats not even half. Also about 100 or so games were sports. I think nintendo did not do a really great system until the SNES. Besides most the games sucked many had the blinking problem and that killed my NES playing. I could not play a game with out blowing in it of it freezing half way. So my ? is did anyone who went throught this get a sega instead of the SNES?

[Kid Ice]

Some game are great but lets say outta the 700 games it has well say about 200 of them are worth playing thats not even half.

How many other systems have 200 games worth playing?

[Kitsune Sniper]

How many other systems have 200 games worth playing?

The PS1 and PS2.

[swlovinist]

There are a ton of Nes games worth playing. Any successful system is going to have crap with the good. Nes is no different. I grew up with the NES and have played a wide range of the variety it offers. There are several titles that dont get alot of attention that we are great. I am currently playing Kickmaster and that is a good example of an excellent title that is "under the radar". A couple of factors usually will determine what you consider as a "good" game

1. What you grew up with
2. What type of games you prefer(action platform, RPG, arcade)
3. Age(usually)


With that being said, there are several people that dont prefer the NES. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a big difference between not preferring a system and saying that a system has games that mosly sucked.


To me 200 games out of 700 is not that bad, and would say that there are at least 200 good titles.

[todesengel]

I did end up getting a Genesis after the NES but that was because I wanted something that wasn't a Nintendo product. I do have to agree with everyone's comment so far that 200 is a good chunk of games that are good for a system and those games where worth it to fight through the terrible connector issues of the system. And I feel a lot of people had an NES as their first system so they have fond memories of playing it and can easily forgive the tons of shit games that popped up on it.

[Blanka789]

Part of it is nostalgia, and part of it is that it really is a great system. Greatest ever made? That's certainly debatable.

Personally, I'm a 16-bit guy and think the Genesis and SNES are the best. To each his own.

[Kid Ice]

The PS1 and PS2.

OK so there's......two.

[MissingNo_1231]

well, I love the NES, and I think it is an excellent system. Brilliant, with so many great games.

In my opinion, the SNES managed to expand upon that. I've said many times that it's my favorite system.

And I think that most people quote it as the best because it's recognizable and they grew up with it. And it's a good choice as gaming goes.

[Jorpho]

Also about 100 or so games were sports.That's probably a much smaller proportion than most systems.

[Baloo]

So many classics started out on the NES, it was the start of Nintendo, undoubtedly the most famous video company out there. On the NES we got:

Super Mario Bros.
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Contra
Castlevania
Mega Man
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Bomberman
Bubble Bobble
Dragon Warrior
Final Fantasy
Ninja Gaiden
Tetris
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

And countless others.

Come on, case closed.

[Ro-J]

Besides most the games sucked many had the blinking problem and that killed my NES playing. I could not play a game with out blowing in it of it freezing half way.

Those who question the impact of the NES probably weren't old enough to remember just how big it was. The "blinking problem" wasn't an issue when the NES was new. Sure, nostalgia from us older gamers has probably hyped the system to a level higher than it truly deserves, but games like Karnov, Gun.Smoke, Pro Wrestling, etc... were just F'in awesome at the time.

[MissingNo_1231]

Blinking problem? You mean how the system sometimes has trouble reading cartridges? I just clean 'em out with a q-tip dipped in Witch Hazel or Rubbing Alcohol, and they work like 99% of the time.

If you mean images on screen blinking, which I guess happens occasionally, it's never been bad enough to interfere with my gaming experience.

[Garry Silljo]

The PS1 and PS2.

But they had more than 700ish games so the crap to good ratio is probably still the same.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

I never had one when I was young = no love for it today.

[MissingNo_1231]

I never had one when I was young = no love for it today.

I didn't get one until I was in Sixth Grade. To put that in context, the Gamecube came out when I was in Sixth Grade.

It's not my favorite, but it's up there.

[Solertia]

lol opinions


Seriously though guys, the "best system" is all about what the best system is in your own eyes. Doesn't matter how many games it had, or what the good/bad ratio is or anything like that.


Now, let's talk about our feelings...

[guitargary75]

So many classics started out on the NES, it was the start of Nintendo, undoubtedly the most famous video company out there. On the NES we got:

Super Mario Bros.
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Contra
Castlevania
Mega Man
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Bomberman
Bubble Bobble
Dragon Warrior
Final Fantasy
Ninja Gaiden
Tetris
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

And countless others.

Come on, case closed.

I agree!

[Kiddo]

Being one who grew up on the NES, I'm rather fond of it.
Besides it's historical impact, it was a major jump from the pre-crash Atari stuff, and the games appeal to me more than the Master System library.

It's rather funny to think that the system still has what many consider the "pinnacle" of certain game genres. It's a rather strong statement when people consider things like Mega Man 9 and Punch-Out!! for Wii -better- for "sticking to the classic formula", and everyone suddenly starts liking New Super Mario Bros. Wii as soon as the "Koopa Kids" from SMB3 are back.

[YoshiM]

I'll put my 2 zenny on this.


Ok why do people think the NES is one of the best systems ever.
Key word here is "one of", not "the". It ranks up there for many for the "saving the gaming world" reason you mention but also how it took the gaming world and shot it to a new dimension. Another would be the system's sheer variety of games everyone could enjoy, especially with the easy "pick up and play" controller.


Some game are great but lets say outta the 700 games it has well say about 200 of them are worth playing thats not even half.
Like someone else asked: name a system that really has more than that ratio? And what's the measuring stick on "worth playing"? From a general score of 1 to 10, a "7" or above? 8?


Also about 100 or so games were sports.
Your point? Also, how is this different from other systems like the Genesis or the Playstation? Sports games were and are popular and business is business.


I think nintendo did not do a really great system until the SNES.
But if you look at roster of titles, you're going to see a good amount of sports games along with a good amount of dreck to go with the good stuff. For every Super Metroid there's four Family Dogs or Rise of the Robots.


Besides most the games sucked many had the blinking problem and that killed my NES playing. I could not play a game with out blowing in it of it freezing half way.
Now what do you mean by "blinking problem"? If you're talking about a malfunction, that just means the contacts were dirty and you made it worse by blowing in it and getting the contacts all full of spit (your breath has humidity-no real way around it). Major problem if you rented frequently. Trust me, in a year I rented well over 100 games and isopropyl alcohol became a gaming companion.

But about the comment on how "most the games sucked"...again, that can be said about practically every system.


So my ? is did anyone who went throught this get a sega instead of the SNES?

Okay...that's just a weird question. First you're talking about the NES then you switch about and ask about if the reader purchased the Genesis (I'm assuming) over a SNES. Are you asking because if a person had an issue with a Nintendo product did they switch to a Sega product?

[ryborg]

Ok I know Im going to get alot of people who disagree with me but Im going to ask it anyway. Ok why do people think that cars is one of the best forms of transportation ever. Now I know henry ford's assembly line saved the transprotation world but was is really that good. Some cars are great but lets say outta the 700 cars it has well say about 200 of them are worth drving thats not even half. Also about 100 or so cars were sports cars. I think cars did not do a really great thing until the flying car. Besides most the cars sucked many needed gas to run and that killed my drinving. I could not drive a car with out gas in it of it stalling half way. So my ? is did anyone who went throught this get a mule instead of the car?

[otaku]

I think nintendo was at their best with the NES and SNES especially with the latter system though I am way more into 16bit but that is what I was first exposed to (technically grew up with n64 and psone/Dreamcast) I have trouble getting into 8 bit unless its mario or an arcade style atari like game (and even then...)

[VG_Maniac]

Think of all the franchises that are still popular today that got their start on the NES - Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Mega Man, Contra, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Ninja Gaiden, etc.

If you want to get technical, Contra and Super Mario Bros. started as arcade games, and Castlevania originally appeared on the MSX system in Japan...but we all know those franchises didn't take off until they appeared on the NES.

[crom]

forget opinions... lets break it down...

1.) only 2 systems have out sold the nes

ps1 and ps2

2.) nes saved the video game console market...

3.) every nes game that gets redone over and over started here

4.) the nintendo seal of approval set a standard in gaming used to this very day,

5.) it came out with A/V outputs, this might sound like nothing, but consider that av outputs didnt become standard untill 2 generations of consoles later... thats insane...

5.) the games... before nes we were all playing atari 2600's were almost all the games were about high scores... then nes came out, and gave birth to games with storylines and endings...


did any other gaming system after the nes trendsend gaming? no, they just took the mold nes made and gave it better graphics and sound...

I think that in 5-10 years though ppl are going to have to consider the ps2 for the tittle of greatest system... right now its too soon

[tom]

4.) the nintendo seal of approval set a standard in gaming used to this very day,



Oh yes:
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=202510&g2_serialNumber=1

[Push Upstairs]

4.) the nintendo seal of approval set a standard in gaming used to this very day,

ROFLROFL

:::wipes tear away:::

That was pretty good.


That seal meant one thing, that Nintendo allowed the game to be released on the system. It was *NOT* a seal saying that the game was "well made".

"Total Recall" and "The Uncanny X-men" both have the seal, and both games are excrement wrapped in plastic.

[adam_devry]

Ok I know Im going to get alot of people who disagree with me but Im going to ask it anyway. Ok why do people think that cars is one of the best forms of transportation ever. Now I know henry ford's assembly line saved the transprotation world but was is really that good. Some cars are great but lets say outta the 700 cars it has well say about 200 of them are worth drving thats not even half. Also about 100 or so cars were sports cars. I think cars did not do a really great thing until the flying car. Besides most the cars sucked many needed gas to run and that killed my drinving. I could not drive a car with out gas in it of it stalling half way. So my ? is did anyone who went throught this get a mule instead of the car?

ok good point if you got a ford car and it came with some good things like cd player,rims, and i nice paint job but the air stopped working, the transmission kept going on you and your starter kept going out. Everyone has a ford and likes the maker but your ford keep messing up is your next car going to be a ford. I don't think so

[The 1 2 P]

Also about 100 or so games were sports

The thing is, even sports games were fun back then. Back on the Nes I played sports games of sports I would have never been interested in real life(hockey, tennis, etc) because the gameplay made me take that first step. As a matter of fact, the Nes is the last system in which I regularly played(and enjoyed) sports games.

[adam_devry]

forget opinions... lets break it down...

1.) only 2 systems have out sold the nes

ps1 and ps2

2.) nes saved the video game console market...

3.) every nes game that gets redone over and over started here

4.) the nintendo seal of approval set a standard in gaming used to this very day,

5.) it came out with A/V outputs, this might sound like nothing, but consider that av outputs didnt become standard untill 2 generations of consoles later... thats insane...

5.) the games... before nes we were all playing atari 2600's were almost all the games were about high scores... then nes came out, and gave birth to games with storylines and endings...


did any other gaming system after the nes trendsend gaming? no, they just took the mold nes made and gave it better graphics and sound...

I think that in 5-10 years though ppl are going to have to consider the ps2 for the tittle of greatest system... right now its too soon


What about the cd systems that came out before ps1 and ps2. like 3DO Atari jag, and sega cd. Should they be named the greatest systems cause they did cd games first. What about the dreamcast for being the first to use triggers instead of bumpers.

I also disagree with your PS2 statement I think PS1 is the best. It was a system that brought us great titles like twisted metal, Parasite eve, Spyro, Resident Evil and Silent hill.

[tomaitheous]

What about the cd systems that came out before ps1 and ps2. like 3DO Atari jag, and sega cd. Should they be named the greatest systems cause they did cd games first.

Actually, that would be the PC-Engine back in '88 with the CD addon. And yes, it's one of the greatest systems of that era ;)





What I'm surprised at is none of the Euro gamers have chimed in to tell you (us, whatever)... Nintendo didn't save the video game market in Europe, with the NES. NES didn't save the world, it only saved North America ;)

[ScottK]

Another reason why people loved the nes was that almost everybody had one. You wanted to go to your buddies house, he had a nintendo. You could trade games with your friends and rent games from the stores. Nobody I knew had a Sega Master System, it was all Nintendo. Also to me 90% of the games I owned got played over and over again. Nowadays I get tired of a game less than 5 minutes into it. So yes, the games had huge replay value.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

nice link...thanks for the share!...

[crom]

cds are just a medium, thats doesnt trendsend anything...

games were played on floppy disks b4 carts, thats just evolution...

the seal of approval may have let a few sub par games through the cracks but compared to what atari let ppl do it was ok...

the funny thing is back when I was 8 years old playing these so called shitty games I never thought of them as shit, am I the only one? I had nothing else to compare them to so they were just hard games... sure by todays standard of course they are shit

[MachineGex]

If you don't see why the NES is regarded so high, you must be trying to miss it. It may not be regarded high to you, but everyone should be able to figure out why it is highly regarded by most. I guess if you had a faulty system that froze everytime you played, that would kill your fun. But come on, there are tons of ways to fix this problem so it isn't an issue.

[Nature Boy]

It all depends on at which point you came into gaming, and how you view the stuff that came before you IMO.

I'm old enough to have been introduced to the 2600 first, and love that as I do, what came after it were what games should really be, rather than what I wanted them to be.

I liked Combat and Home Run, but I wanted a version where I could play on my own.

I loved Adventure, but wasn't really afraid of ducks and wanted a version where I'd be facing what *looked* like dragons.

I loved arcade games, but wished they could feel more like the original.

The NES gave me that, plus games I'd never been able to *dream* of on the VCS, like Final Fantasy and SMB.

Sure the SNES era *looked* better, but it didn't up the ante for me like the NES era did. As such, I tend to play more NES games than SNES ones these days.

[theChad]

ok good point if you got a ford car and it came with some good things like cd player,rims, and i nice paint job but the air stopped working, the transmission kept going on you and your starter kept going out. Everyone has a ford and likes the maker but your ford keep messing up is your next car going to be a ford. I don't think so

lol'd :duh:

[Kevincal]

NES beat the shit out of what came before it. The graphics, sound and control of the great NES games blew Atari and Sega stuff away in the early to mid 80's. And then there's the fact that the greatest videogame maker of all time was on-board with Nintendo. MIYAMOTO... Best 8-bit

Then the Genesis came along and did the exact same thing the NES did. Best 16-bit

Then the Playstation came along. Best 32-bit

Then N64. Best 64-bit

Then the PS2. Best 128-bit

...

[iycon]

I started console gaming with th Odessy2 and Atari2600. Those went to the wayside around 1984 or '85 and I was into gamming on the Apple 2 and Mac playing The King's Quest series and many early EA stuff. When I was in high school around '88, my buddy got a NES but games seemed kinda boring to me and it did'nt hold my intrest.

It was the Sega Genesis that got me interested in console gaming again in '92. My first Nintendo product was the N64, which I got on launch day.

About 5 years ago my wife saw a NES at GameCrazy and got it for me, because she had one when she was young and I was starting my retro collecting.

I respect the NES for what it represents but I just don't play it that often. Most of my Nintendo game playing was done at Arcades, even my first exposure to a Mario World game was at an Arcade cabinet. I wish Nintendo would release a compillation disk of their Arcade versions of games.

[tomaitheous]

Then the Playstation came along. Best 32-bit

Then N64. Best 64-bit

...

N64 doesn't have it's own era! :smash: It's part of the PS1/Saturn era. Pick one of the other(or just remove the n64 altogether ;) ).

[tom]

the seal of approval may have let a few sub par games through the cracks but compared to what atari let ppl do it was ok...



According to Adam Devry, 200 good games, and 500 shit games on NES, so much for that seal...Anyway, the seal's purpose was already explained.

[tom]

NES beat the shit out of what came before it. The graphics, sound and control of the great NES games blew Atari and Sega stuff away in the early to mid 80's. And then there's the fact that the greatest videogame maker of all time was on-board with Nintendo. MIYAMOTO...


...

You mean the best video game maker Nintendo had...he's by far NOT the best video game maker of all time (Always making the same game over and over again does not make one a video game making god).
As for control, the less said about a wrong way 'round pad, the better. Nasty

[Push Upstairs]

the seal of approval may have let a few sub par games through the cracks but compared to what atari let ppl do it was ok...

I think it was good that Nintendo made it so that some overnight game company couldn't make a NES game.

But the seal just made it so that instead of really small companies cranking out "library filler" aka crap, larger companies were doing it.

[Kevincal]

N64 doesn't have it's own era! :smash: It's part of the PS1/Saturn era. Pick one of the other(or just remove the n64 altogether ;) ).

Ya um, where did I say anything about era? I was breaking it down by BITS, obviously... ;) Since it is fair to compare systems with the same amount of bits...


You mean the best video game maker Nintendo had...he's by far NOT the best video game maker of all time (Always making the same game over and over again does not make one a video game making god).
As for control, the less said about a wrong way 'round pad, the better. Nasty

Oh really?

Donkey Kong
Mario
Excitebike
Zelda
Kid Icarus
Earthbound
F-Zero
PilotWings
Mario Kart
Wave Race
StarFox
Kirby
Killer Instinct SNES
Mario RPG
PokeMon GB
1080 Snowboarding
Super Smash Bros.
Metroid Prime
Wii Sports
Wii Fit
Punch-Out

And all the awesome sequels and similar games in-between. ALL SMASH HITS...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_games_created_by_Shigeru_Miyamoto

[tom]

Donkey Kong
Mario
Excitebike
Zelda
Kid Icarus
Earthbound
F-Zero
PilotWings
Mario Kart
Wave Race
StarFox
Kirby
Killer Instinct SNES
Mario RPG
PokeMon GB
1080 Snowboarding
Super Smash Bros.
Metroid Prime
Wii Sports
Wii Fit
Punch-Out

And all the awesome sequels and similar games in-between. ALL SMASH HITS...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_games_created_by_Shigeru_Miyamoto

So he designed approx 14 games....even Roberta Williams done more, no big deal.

[Jorpho]

So he designed approx 14 games....even Roberta Williams done more, no big deal.It's hard to say how much impact he might have had in the role of supervisor or producer, but given the overall track record, it is reasonable to assume that it was not negligible.

Also, a lot of people will take issues with Ms. Williams' notion of game design.

[ryborg]

ok good point if you got a ford car and it came with some good things like cd player,rims, and i nice paint job but the air stopped working, the transmission kept going on you and your starter kept going out. Everyone has a ford and likes the maker but your ford keep messing up is your next car going to be a ford. I don't think so

This. This is the best thread.

[tom]

It's hard to say how much impact he might have had in the role of supervisor or producer, but given the overall track record, it is reasonable to assume that it was not negligible.
.

Assume nothing, especially from Nintendo, a company who doctored their own sales figures of systems to their own advantage (source: Game Over the book)

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Ok, so we've recently had: Things I hate about Microsoft and this thread. Isn't it about time for some asshole to start a Sony sucks thread. Jesus, someone needs to get to work.

[Garry Silljo]

So he designed approx 14 games....even Roberta Williams done more, no big deal.

If you're not counting sequals she only has 10. All of which are basically the same genre.

[fahlim003]

forget opinions... lets break it down...
2.) nes saved the video game console market...

This is the only point that makes sense to me. Although I'd replace saved with reinvented.
Thanks to the different approach from that of Atari and having some really bright minds (Yokoi, Miyamoto, etc..) internally helped propel the Famicom/NES into a hugely popular position. As a result, given the huge popularity in America and Japan, those who were around when the NES was current generally have fond memories.

There are tonnes of crappy games on the NES/Famicom as is the case with any system/platform, but the NES/Famicom also had a lot of games which were fun and memorable. I think combining the fact it was a very popular system in North America and Asia and to realize it had it's share of quality games and ideas makes it easy to understand why years later it still has wide-spread appeal.

The NES certainly isn't my favourite system and I grew up with one too. I definitely had fun playing mine and playing games with other friends who had an NES also. For me, it boils down to good memories, and booting up old games like Super Mario Bros., River City Ransom, & Duck Tales lets me think about the good old days.

[Jorpho]

Assume nothing, especially from Nintendo, a company who doctored their own sales figures of systems to their own advantage (source: Game Over the book)What the crap do reports of doctored sales figures in a book about "How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children" have to do with with whether or not it was justified to include the name of a game developer who most people don't really care about in the credits for games?

[Nes]

Egads! Someone mentioned Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as an example of a great NES game! Surely you don't mean the first one. The Manhattan Project was the only version worth owning.

[XYXZYZ]

Ok why do people think the NES is one of the best systems ever. Now I know it saved the gaming world but was is really that good.

Yes. There is no big secret here, man. The NES is held on such a high pedestal because playing a Nintendo game was some of the most fun a kid ever had.


Some game are great but lets say outta the 700 games it has well say about 200 of them are worth playing thats not even half.

When you went to the store to buy/rent a Nintendo game, they didn't stock 700 different games. Stores stocked usually less than 100, and the games that were on the shelves were the money makers, the good ones that everyone loved so much. When you talk about 500 bad games, back in the NES era most of them were out of sight, out of mind and we didn't worry about them.

[tomaitheous]

Ya um, where did I say anything about era? I was breaking it down by BITS, obviously... ;) Since it is fair to compare systems with the same amount of bits...

And what does 64bits *mean* to you? PS3 and 360 are 32bit. That's why systems are grouped into "era's" instead of "bits". You might as well says the N64 is the best N64 (which makes about just as much sense) :wink 2:

[Kevincal]

PS3 and XBOX 360 32-bit? News to me... They are 128-bit where they need to be, from everything I've seen. I know bits don't matter THAT much, but c'mon, most systems with the same MAXIMUM bit output perform similarly and thus are best compared with each other.

And the N64 wasn't the only 64-bit system... Jaguar was the other. The Jag is capable of 64-bit calculations, thus it's technically 64-bit.

[Jorpho]

PS3 and XBOX 360 32-bit? News to me... They are 128-bit where they need to be, from everything I've seen.Please, name one aspect of the hardware that can accurately be referred to as 128-bit.

Also, anything is capable of 64-bit calculations if you split things down.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Ok I know Im going to get alot of people who disagree with me but Im going to ask it anyway. Ok why do people think the NES is one of the best systems ever. Now I know it saved the gaming world but was is really that good. Some game are great but lets say outta the 700 games it has well say about 200 of them are worth playing thats not even half. Also about 100 or so games were sports. I think nintendo did not do a really great system until the SNES. Besides most the games sucked many had the blinking problem and that killed my NES playing. I could not play a game with out blowing in it of it freezing half way. So my ? is did anyone who went throught this get a sega instead of the SNES?

The original NES was great/is beloved for a lot of reasons.

Despite some of the negatives that you pointed out - the issues with the cartridge pins/contacts being easily dirty/oxidized/faulty and the high volume of below average games, which as pointed out by others is typical of any popular console - the NES did some things that were far more important than it's technical abilities/shortcomings or the total overall quality of its library.

Nintendo with the NES restored interest/faith/profitability in the game industry in the US and elsewhere. Sure if the NES wasn't there to do it, another console may have come along to do it, but the NES was the one that did and it gets the gold star for doing so.

It had software that helped define, evolve and/or perfect genres that are still popular to this day - platformers, JRPGs, action RPGs, action adventure games, puzzle games - and Nintendo and 3rd party companies dabbled in a lot of technology for the NES that wound up being re-visited years later to even greater success, light guns, power pad/dance mats, multi-tap play, motion control peripherals, etc.

It allowed Japan and America to truly "converge" in the industry in a way that hadn't previously happened in the US console market ... and in many ways the more focused/regimented business management practices of Japan helped prevent the over-indulgences, over-distribution, and market saturation that helped cause the market crash just a few years earlier.

Sure, a lot of these things aren't immediately evident when you just look at the NES from the perspective of a gamer ... but if you take the time to read up on the history/business end of things it becomes clear that whether you like Nintendo or you hate them ... they re-kick-started a failing/failed industry and have helped us get to where we are now, sometimes as an industry leader, sometimes trailing behind, but always pretty damned consistent in producing quality hardware/software even if you need to boil it all down to 1st party offerings.

[tomaitheous]

PS3 and XBOX 360 32-bit? News to me... They are 128-bit where they need to be, from everything I've seen. I know bits don't matter THAT much, but c'mon, most systems with the same MAXIMUM bit output perform similarly and thus are best compared with each other.

And the N64 wasn't the only 64-bit system... Jaguar was the other. The Jag is capable of 64-bit calculations, thus it's technically 64-bit.

Then you clearly have you idea what "bit-ness" means. And no, the Jag isn't 64bit. LOL


PS3 and XBOX 360 32-bit? News to me

Well, it's news to you then - like you said. ;)

The from 8bit to 32bit, "bit-ness" was a just a simple term to differentiate from the previous generation. But even at that, things aren't that simple. Nes: 8bit cpu, 8bit video controller. Genesis: 16bit cpu, 8bit video controller, 8bit z80 (yamaha chip is also an 8bit device). SNES:16bit cpu(8bit data bus), two 8bit sPPU's, 8bit sound cpu, 16bit sound DSP. PC-Engine:8bit cpu, 16bit video controller, 16bit color/frame generator, audio...(six non linear 12bit DACs. not sure how to put that in bitness - probably 8bit).

Pentium processors have been running on 64bit data bus' for looooong time now, but that's doesn't make them 64bit system (and the processor is internally 32bit).

[Kevincal]

Please, name one aspect of the hardware that can accurately be referred to as 128-bit.

Also, anything is capable of 64-bit calculations if you split things down.

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001618.html

http://www.pcvsconsole.com/features/consoles/ps3/


Then you clearly have you idea what "bit-ness" means. And no, the Jag isn't 64bit. LOL



Well, it's news to you then - like you said. ;)

The from 8bit to 32bit, "bit-ness" was a just a simple term to differentiate from the previous generation. But even at that, things aren't that simple. Nes: 8bit cpu, 8bit video controller. Genesis: 16bit cpu, 8bit video controller, 8bit z80 (yamaha chip is also an 8bit device). SNES:16bit cpu(8bit data bus), two 8bit sPPU's, 8bit sound cpu, 16bit sound DSP. PC-Engine:8bit cpu, 16bit video controller, 16bit color/frame generator, audio...(six non linear 12bit DACs. not sure how to put that in bitness - probably 8bit).

Pentium processors have been running on 64bit data bus' for looooong time now, but that's doesn't make them 64bit system (and the processor is internally 32bit).

Jag isn't 64-bit huh? The guy that DESIGNED / BUILT THE DAMN THING seems to think so. You know more about the system than him huh? ;)

http://www.geocities.com/~irata/64bit.html

The number of bits a system is rated at is the highest number of bits the system is capable of calculating... Way to insult my intelligence regarding videogame systems as well. I already knew all of those tech specs by the MID NINETIES (15 years ago PAL! ;)). Thanks for ATTEMPING to enlighten (more like belittle) me. *rolls eyes* Next time, assume the person knows as much as you OR MORE... ;)

[Jorpho]

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001618.htmlThis is meaningless handwaving.
http://www.pcvsconsole.com/features/consoles/ps3/This only says there's a 128-bit interface to the video memory. I guess that counts, but it's a bit of a stretch.
Jag isn't 64-bit huh? The guy that DESIGNED / BUILT THE DAMN THING seems to think so. You know more about the system than him huh? ;)He's not going to disparage his own creation now, is he?
The number of bits a system is rated at is the highest number of bits the system is capable of calculating...That's a rather arbitrary-sounding definition. Who came up with that one?

[ShinobiMan]

The NES to me is like The Beatles of gaming. They created a phenomenon back in the late 80's that was completely different than anything that came before. Games with story lines and endings, characters like Mario and Zelda that became as beloved and iconic as Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse.

Just as rock music today wouldn't be the same without The Beatles, videos games as we know them today would not be the same without Nintendo.

The NES was my first video game console, and in my family, Nintendo was a necessity of life. I can't tell you how many hours I spent as a child in front of the television set playing classics like Super Mario Bros, Mega Man 2, Castlevania 3, and Ninja Gaiden.

[Baloo]

Egads! Someone mentioned Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as an example of a great NES game! Surely you don't mean the first one. The Manhattan Project was the only version worth owning.

TMNT II: The Arcade game isn't that bad. Was The Manhattan Project ever put into arcades?

[tomaitheous]

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001618.html

That's supposed to be a joke, right?


http://www.pcvsconsole.com/features/consoles/ps3/


Uhm. And? Because the GPU has 128bit data bus to the memory, so that makes the system 128bit? Jesus...



Jag isn't 64-bit huh? The guy that DESIGNED / BUILT THE DAMN THING seems to think so. You know more about the system than him huh? ;)

The only thing he's describing/stating is the data bus. Tom and Jerry are both 32bit internally (they're not really processors).



http://www.geocities.com/~irata/64bit.html

The number of bits a system is rated at is the highest number of bits the system is capable of calculating... Way to insult my intelligence regarding videogame systems as well. I already knew all of those tech specs by the MID NINETIES (15 years ago PAL! ;)).

Again. This just shows you clearly don't understand what "bit-ness" means. Neither of the two support chips in the Jag are "64bit". The data bus is. Go look up Data BUS VS ALU. The reason why you don't need a 64bit processor (not talking about the data bus) is that 64bit numbers are huge. And being able to process 64bit logic (arithmetic, boolen logic, etc) doesn't mean you can process twice the amount of 32bits operations in the same amount of time. Like wise, a 32bit processor *can* calculate 64bit logic. So can 16bit and 8bit processors. A 64bit data bus != 64bit calculations.

If you're giving the data BUS (the least significant "bit-ness" of a processor") the focus and status of a system, then the SNES is an 8bit system. That logic fails.


*rolls eyes* Next time, assume the person knows as much as you OR MORE... ;)

Well, when you make ignorant statements like you have - then how can I assume you are on my level of knowledge? Do you code in assembly for PC? Do you code in assembly for consoles systems too? Do you understand and use console hardware at its lowest level? If you have that level of knowledge, then you wouldn't be making such absurd declarations, I would think.


Thanks for ATTEMPING to enlighten (more like belittle) me.

Clearly, I failed to enlighten you :)

Take a step back and look at what you and I have posted. Take a good look. Then maybe you'll see that my whole point is that you can't easily identify a system, and the group it belongs to, simply by its "bit-ness". The best example is the Genesis with its "16bit graphics" logo right ontop of the system (and in all the ads) and yet nothing about its graphics are 16bit at all; not the video controller, not the colors on screen, not color palette, etc. The more accurate placement of category should be by era. Whether it's the best, mid, or worst of that era - is irrelevant. The N64 belongs to the 32bit era, regardless that it has a true 64bit processor (data bus, registers, alu, etc).

[T3chnologyGuy]

Simply because its fun to play

[Jorpho]

TMNT II: The Arcade game isn't that bad. Was The Manhattan Project ever put into arcades?No, The Manhattan Project was an NES exclusive. (Also note that it is not be be confused with The Manhattan Missions, a completely different and really crappy PC game.)

[Icarus Moonsight]

Please, name one aspect of the hardware that can accurately be referred to as 128-bit.

For the PS2? Does color palette count? LOL Yes, consoles have been 32 bitters for years now. There is more than mere CPU data throughput going on in them boxes doncha ya know. :p

I <3 my NES. Though, I'm more fond of others. It's special! O_O

[kupomogli]

I think it was good that Nintendo made it so that some overnight game company couldn't make a NES game.

But the seal just made it so that instead of really small companies cranking out "library filler" aka crap, larger companies were doing it.

And the fact that whatever company wanted to put a game on the NES had to pay a crapload of money to get that seal on there. Except Tengen who found a way to bypass that.

Some good games, like Gauntlet, don't even have the Nintendo Seal of Quality.

[sidnotcrazy]

Some good games, like Gauntlet, don't even have the Nintendo Seal of Quality.

Not to sound like a jack ass, but there are some copies of Gauntlet with the Nintendo seal of Quality on them, just like there are copies of Pac-Man, and Tetris. Later they figured out how to bypass the chipset. Color Dreams, and CodeMasters did the same.

My question is why does anyone care that the Nintendo was so popular. The X-box is popular, I don't like it, but I don't care what people play. I am just interested in what I like.

[ubersaurus]

I'd say it's because it has a highly varied library, a lot of excellent to pretty good games - some of which, like Solar Jetman or Metalstorm, are heavily underused concepts - neat musical abilities, a decent controller, and practically dominated the market at the time. It's no stretch that most of the best games of the late 80s home scene were on C64 and NES.

I've enjoyed gaming before and since, but the NES has a distinct advantage of awesome.

[Garry Silljo]

nevermind... already stated.

[Flippy8490]

THere are so many timeless classics that have spawned hundreds upon hundreds of timeless sequels. To this day, some of the most popular franchises, and timeless gaming icons, that make millions and are the heart of the gaming world got their start on the NES. It was not really the system itself, its what came our for it.

[Sonicwolf]

There is little point trying to debate the validity of the Nintendo Entertainment System has the super classic of its time. It is generally seen as so and every system has its ups and downs. The Genesis and Super NES are also seen as amazing classics yet they have a vast load of dumpware games too.

I see the Nintendo Entertainment System as an amazing and classic system even though I was born in 1990 and never grew up with one. Something about it is so appealing and fun. The games were simple yet addicting. I could play Super Mario Bros. 3 a hundred times and never get bored. Its hard as hell, long in game time and fun - Something most modern games lack.

[Push Upstairs]

SMB3 is not hard. It is extremely easy to rack up lives in that game.

[Sonicwolf]

SMB3 is not hard. It is extremely easy to rack up lives in that game.

The last 2 worlds can be hell on earth at times. I never did figure out exactly how to get tons of lives in that game. Any trick?

[Baloo]

The last 2 worlds can be hell on earth at times. I never did figure out exactly how to get tons of lives in that game. Any trick?

Not sure, but I think the mushroom houses hold some 1-ups, or you just need to be able to know where to find them hidden throughout the levels, mainly those scrolling ones.

[Push Upstairs]

You will kick yourself when I tell you this.

The cards you collect at the ends of the levels, if you run and jump at a 45 degree angle you will almost always get a star card. That means every three levels you will get 5 free lives.

You gotta time it right, but it works.

Back when I was in my SMB3 playing prime, I would play to World 5 or 6 warp to World 8 and beat the game with like 50+ lives in reserve.