20 years this month SNES has been out in US markets

[Steven]

Wow, it has snuck up like a thief in the night. This month marks 20 years since the Super Nintendo launched in the US. Some argue release date between August 13, August 23 and September 9 (1991) but generally accepted SNES was available in quite a few markets August 1991.

Today it's August 2011.

That means 20 years Nintendo's 16-bit wonder has been kicking around here in the States.

Feel free to post anything SNES that comes to your mind, whether it's a tribute, memory recall, etc.

[RCM]

I lean towards 9/9 only to say three major consoles were released in the states during the '90s on that date. Anyway, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls&feature=player_embedded

(via GameSetWatch)

[exit]

Wow it fells like yesterday that I got the system in 3rd grade, the same day as open house at school and I really really didn't want to go. The SNES still remains my absolute favorite console, and no other system since has come close to matching it's overall quality.

[Steven]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls&feature=player_embedded

(via GameSetWatch)


I liked the mom's comment at around 1:29, lol. "I'm gonna say no, and explain to my son how people market things to make you spend more money."

While generally true, in SNES' case, for me at least, it was the best investment of my gaming career/hobby. Loved it 20 years ago, love it just as much today, if not more. Probably will still love it 20 years from today too, God willing (gosh, when the system celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2031). That ain't just marketing... that's a once-in-a-generation system, full of countless games that are irrepressibly good and so many rich gaming memories.

[fahlim003]

I lean towards 9/9 only to say three major consoles were released in the states during the '90s on that date. Anyway, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls&feature=player_embedded

(via GameSetWatch)
Crazy video - shows the bloody end of SMW, what a spoiler!

I unfortunately didn't get a Super until the end of the decade when I was given one by a friend who somehow had a spare unit lying around without use. That doesn't mean I didn't have access to one, I remember fondly going over to a buddy of mines and spending many hours on Mario Kart and in general gatherings engaging in SMW 2 player. I had an NES until 1992 and in 1993 got a Genesis which lasted me a long while.

I'd say it's only in the years after 1999 that I began to get Super games such as A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 3, and Star Fox (my friend initially gave me the system also gave copies of Lagoon, NHL 94, and Ghoul Patrol [which was and still is a great game]) and nowadays I look back fondly what with the resurrgence in popularity thanks to DIY reproductions/fan translations.

Outstanding system all the same.

[RPG_Fanatic]

I lean towards 9/9 only to say three major consoles were released in the states during the '90s on that date.

I know it came out closer to the end of August. But I know it bought it in August. I walked into Software Ect. and they just got them in that day.

[Limited Gameplay]

I remember Nintendo Power was having a contest where three winners would be picked from a drawing and shipped out to Nintendo HQ to be the first people to own a SNES. Knowing that I entered the contest, my sister typed up a message and envelope on the typewriter and said something came in the mail for me. It said I won a SNES and I figuratively soiled myself.

After a while I started to realize the paper was typed on the same watermarked paper we had in our office desk and quickly my excitement was gone and I cried myself to sleep (okay, not really). After all that the SNES still managed to be my favorite console of all time.

Go go Super Nintendo!

[Emperor Megas]

It wasn't August 23. That's my birthday and I definitely would have remembered if it was launched on my birthday.

[spongerob]

How do you encapsulate 20 years of fun and amazing memories into one post? Mine is still kickin' and has never given me one error. Nintendo sure did learn from past hardware mistakes.

Other than the yellowish tinge most of them turn thanks to substandard foreign plastics lol.

I recently bought two broken SNES machines for 5 bucks apiece, convinced that due to the description of the errors, they were fixable. One had a blown mobo, but the other worked without any repair required and I've used it to play through FF6 and a few other RPGs without a single hiccup. The best part? Squeaky clean, brand new looking plastic without one single blemish. I love that thing. It's not my original SNES but it's so new looking.

My original SNES is saturated in yellow :( Though it's my original and I'll always treasure it. It was bought from a store that was selling them in Canada before they were released here. For a kid to receive that, that was the end all be all.

SNES forever.

[old man]

Wow, has it really been this long? This makes me think of my dad. Come december I will have had mine for 20 years. I'm going to play through SMW again on christmas to celebrate.

[riderpool]

so between genesis, metroid, zelda, SNES and me august is the month of awesome...metla!

[SpaceHarrier]

If I could only keep (and collect for) one system, it would be SNES.

I remember when I was at Target sometime after it was released, they had a small TV set up on the camera kiosk's display case with Super Mario World playing. I begged and begged my father, promised to do chores to 'earn it off'. Finally, he acquiesced.

To this day I still owe him $215.49 LOL

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Mine is still kickin' and has never given me one error. Nintendo sure did learn from past hardware mistakes.

Ditto that. My SNES is still running like a champ after 20 years and I've received equal that amount of years in enjoyment from it. I also clipped the regional blocks (or whatever you want to call them) a couple of years back and started to import amazing games that made the system seem fresh again.

That said, I don't know how many Massachusetts members are currently using this forum but I also remember playing Super Mario World and the wow factor of seeing Yoshi for the very first time while playing a kiosk setup in the old Natick Mall. Jesus that makes me feel old.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I will always remember the day I got my SNES. It was August 25 (and I will always know that since it's written on the yellow Nintendo repair sticker on my original SNES box!), a Sunday, and I saw the ad in Toys R Us for it and wasn't expecting it already in stores. I jumped on my bike, went on over and saw it in all its' beauty behind the glass case :) I grabbed my ticket, paid for it, heard the ever familiar "customer service at the pick up booth please" over the speakers and the guy came over. He's all like "What this new style Neen-tendo thing here?" and I'm like "Just give me it damn it!!" lol I finally got home, hooked up, and have loved it ever since.

Though my SNES is yellowed and has some audio issues from the left speaker, I still love it to this day and wish it an early happy birthday thanks to this thread ;)

[Steven]

I will always remember the day I got my SNES. It was August 25 (and I will always know that since it's written on the yellow Nintendo repair sticker on my original SNES box!), a Sunday, and I saw the ad in Toys R Us for it and wasn't expecting it already in stores. I jumped on my bike, went on over and saw it in all its' beauty behind the glass case :) I grabbed my ticket, paid for it, heard the ever familiar "customer service at the pick up booth please" over the speakers and the guy came over. He's all like "What this new style Neen-tendo thing here?" and I'm like "Just give me it damn it!!" lol I finally got home, hooked up, and have loved it ever since.

Though my SNES is yellowed and has some audio issues from the left speaker, I still love it to this day and wish it an early happy birthday thanks to this thread ;)


lol, nicely described. totally remember the Toys R Us "scene" as well. perfectly stated. tickets, glass booths, and PA voices, heh. Those days seem so golden...

[Lemmy Kilmister]

lol, nicely described. totally remember the Toys R Us "scene" as well. perfectly stated. tickets, glass booths, and PA voices, heh. Those days seem so golden...

Yeah, grabbing those yellow pricing stickers and having a clerk dig thought the Toys R Us' back room to find your game was so much cooler than just walking up and grabbing the game (although nostalgia may be getting the best of me, ha ha).

[Zthun]

How do you encapsulate 20 years of fun and amazing memories into one post? Mine is still kickin' and has never given me one error. Nintendo sure did learn from past hardware mistakes.

Other than the yellowish tinge most of them turn thanks to substandard foreign plastics lol.


I'm no chemistry expert, but doesn't the yellowish tinge come from smoking? Non smokers generally don't have the yellowing system. Mine is still the original color. Never smoked a day in my life.

[Leo_A]

I've been a happy Super Nintendo owner for 16 years now. Hard to believe that's possible.

Seemed like the thing had been out for many years by the time I owned one, but I've been there for the vast majority of its life now.


I'm no chemistry expert, but doesn't the yellowish tinge come from smoking? Non smokers generally don't have the yellowing system. Mine is still the original color. Never smoked a day in my life.

Nope, it's a chemical reaction due to the fire retardant used (Just like most every classic computer). And thanks to developments in recent years, it can be successfully reversed these days.

[Emperor Megas]

I'm no chemistry expert, but doesn't the yellowish tinge come from smoking? Non smokers generally don't have the yellowing system. Mine is still the original color. Never smoked a day in my life.No, it's the plastic that Nintendo used -- it's a known issue. Later SNES consoles were made from a different and higher quality plastic, though some were produced with only some of the shell made from the non-yellowing plastic, while other parts were made from the old stuff. I have one system that has some yellowing only around the fittings surrounding the controller ports. I've have another that has a yellow top and an original coloured bottom, and I've seen ones that have the opposite going on.

Again, it's a known issue with the plastics that were used. I've also never smoked or had a smoker in my house (at least not since my dad moved out which was several years before the SNES was released), but my consoles have also fallen victim to the yellowing plastic.

[Astrosmash]

I've been a happy Super Nintendo owner for 16 years now. Hard to believe that's possible.


Seemed like the thing had been out for many years by the time I owned one, but I've been there for the vast majority of its life now.


Same here. I was a bit of a latecomer to it too; got mine in '94, around the time that Final Fantasy III came out. It was the "Super Mario Set" (the one that came with the Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World cart). Lots of good times with it, and despite being a bit yellow it still works great. Lots of good times with it, both on my own and with friends.

Somewhat amusingly, even though I was a "Super Nintendo kid," I actually now have more Genesis games, but that's probably just due to them being somewhat cheaper and more plentiful around here out in the wild these days.

Still, here's to 20 years of "playing with power... SUPER power!" Now I just have to find time to put new batteries in my ActRaiser and Kirby Super Star carts...

[fahlim003]

I'm no chemistry expert, but doesn't the yellowish tinge come from smoking? Non smokers generally don't have the yellowing system. Mine is still the original color. Never smoked a day in my life.
I have a yellowed Super (my first one) and it was yellow before I got it from a non-smoking home. The problem lies in the chemical structure of the plastic used, specifically flame retardent plastics: http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Flame+Retardants

This is an excellent site as for correcting the issue on yellowed or browned consoles/computer. http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/home Check the gallery for some SNES before and after photos too: http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/The+Gallery

[Steven]

Yeah, grabbing those yellow pricing stickers and having a clerk dig thought the Toys R Us' back room to find your game was so much cooler than just walking up and grabbing the game (although nostalgia may be getting the best of me, ha ha).


Yup, as a kid I remember the back room seemed SO huge... I thought they had like a gold mine back there... maybe some secret tunnels or something that led to even more games. Also, I seem to remember the glass was towering. It was just an epic sight for 7 year old eyes.

Best part of the ticket was when you grabbed the final one. That was the case one time when I bought the last copy of a game. It was such a rush, on top of the natural rush that comes from buying a game 15 years ago.

[WCP]

It wasn't August 23. That's my birthday and I definitely would have remembered if it was launched on my birthday.


August 23rd is when many stores first got it, and began selling it, but I remember reading an article somewhere where a store in Oregon sold the first SNES on August 22nd. I got mine on August 24th. It didn't have a "firm" launch date. Anybody claiming that the SNES launched on August 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th call all be considered correct, because there are stories all over the internet of various retailers first selling the SNES on those dates. I'm guessing Nintendo started shipping them out on the 21st, and it was just a matter of when it got to the particular store.

[StealthLurker]

I remember how my buddy and I would endlessly re-read articles about the upcoming "SFX" console in EGM. I was living overseas at the time so EGMs were hard to come by for a kid. Those magazines got really, really worn out! Fortunately I had a SEGA Megadrive and Amiga to satisfy my gaming fix at the time.

However, one weekend I went to the mall with my mom to buy a megadrive game. To my surprise the Super Famicom was out and had Final Fight running on display. I stared at the demo loop for what seemed like ages. Although I came away with a new MD game that day, all I could think about was the Super Famicom. I considered coming up with a plot to get my parents to buy it, but decided to wait for the SNES because we were going to move back to the States soon. I didn't want to deal with converters or possibly importing games (was tougher back then) like I did with my NES and 8bit famicom.

Well when we finally got back to the States, we were living in a basically empty house for a few months. All our stuff took was taking a slow boat ride across the Pacific. Regardless, I did pick up a SNES at launch but I only had a tiny, portable black & white TV to play it on. I was the first kid in the neighborhood to get one so a group of us would huddle around this tiny TV and take turns playing Super Mario World and Final Fight. Despite the spartan setup, we had a blast.... ah the simpler times!

.

[spongerob]

Anyone else have the corner chips on their machines? It seems the same yellowing plastic is susceptible to having the corners break in the same spots.

[Zoe F]

Anyone else have the corner chips on their machines? It seems the same yellowing plastic is susceptible to having the corners break in the same spots.

I'm assuming that you're talking about an issue like this: image (not my SNES) (http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1580/pic00064t.jpg)

Ooh! Ooh! I do! I do! *raises hand and flails it around*

Seriously though, I've seen a lot of SNESes with this problem. I've seen it on yellowed and non-yellowed systems, and I'm not certain what causes it.

A used game store in my town had a strict policy of not accepting any SNES systems that exhibited chipping on any of system's corners. They had apparently had many systems brought to them that displayed the problem. My own system has chipping on the two back corners, and it's been that way since about 2000. It exhibits barely any yellowing, and it has certainly not ever been mistreated.

[betamax001]

My SNES is yellowed and has chipped corners, but when I bought mine a few years ago, I was wanting one for like 10 years or so maybe so I didn't really care too much :D Probably my favorite Nintendo console. Lots of fantastic games.

[Bloodreign]

I remember a recently deceased friend of mine years and years ago had the first SNES that I got to play (another friend had one too, but his parents weren't fond of company), this friend and I played a shitload of SMW. Dude even taped himself beating the game and showed me the tape, I was in awe of the stuff the game could do, a cousin of mine then got one, played some Final Fight, Super R-Type, Contra 3, Actraiser, and Super Ghouls N Ghosts with him (also recently deceased). I bought a few games off of him years after I got my SNES (got it within 2 months prior to him having an SNES). His house burned down and the games I didn't get to buy off him burned with it (along with an Magnavox Odyssey my uncle had). Wish I had gotten Actraiser from him as that's the only game he once owned that I don't have.

Great system, though now I own a few more Genesis games than SNES, but the SNES is fondly remembered by me, though Super Mario World is the only game I have with a battery that the damned battery died. Also got a second SNES months ago for free, and Final Fantasy 3 for $2, best deal I ever made.

[genesisguy]

I had a Genesis during the 16bit war and although always wanted a SNES I wasn't about to give up my Genesis to trade in for one. I finally got one when I was in highschool around 1997ish at Funcoland. I wish I remembered more about the time I finally bought one, but I do remember Toys R' Us was still selling SNES games when I finally got it.

My first experience with one must have been the summer of '93. Had a sleep over at a friends house and his parents rented a SNES w/ Star Fox from Blockbuster. We played that game ALL night.

[johno590]

It must be something in the air, because I just had the urge to hook my Super Nintendo back up to the tv, and then I see that it's been 20 years since it's been released. My favorite classic console by far.

[starchildskiss78]

I remember reading about the Super Nintendo in Nintendo Power and having a casual interest in it at best. I got my NES in December 1989 so I had been barely playing it less than two years when the Super Nintendo came out. Ironically, I was more interested in Sega's "sexy beast" (to quote the AVGN) at that time.

I think the display at Service Merchandise won me over on the Genesis in lieu of the Super Nintendo. The Donkey Kong Country VHS tape I got for renewing my Nintendo Power got me wanting a Super Nintendo. I traded my Genesis and my games to a friend for his Super Nintendo and a couple of games (Super Mario World and some other game that I can't remember....F-Zero or Pilotwings I think!).

Looking at my collection in RFGeneration, I STILL prefer the Genesis over the Super Nintendo. I still think the Super Nintendo is a great machine, though, and a worthy part of any collection.

[Leo_A]

Anyone else have the corner chips on their machines? It seems the same yellowing plastic is susceptible to having the corners break in the same spots.

The yellowing happens because the chemical composition of the plastic is starting to gradually change over time. It also makes the plastic brittle, so things like what you mentioned can easily happen if you're not careful when a system starts to yellow.

[spongerob]

What got me was it always seems to be in the same place, right on those corners.

[Zing]

I was a die-hard NES fan. When the SNES came out, I was already leaning toward the Genesis, since I loved its arcade ports. For whatever reason, I didn't yet own a Genesis, but I would rent one frequently. Remember that? Renting consoles?

Anyway, yeah Super Mario World looked great, and the graphics and sound on the SNES were a hojillion times better than the Genesis, but I just kept not getting one. It wasn't until I played Link to the Past that I had to have it.

[spongerob]

I was a die-hard NES fan. When the SNES came out, I was already leaning toward the Genesis, since I loved its arcade ports. For whatever reason, I didn't yet own a Genesis, but I would rent one frequently. Remember that? Renting consoles?

Anyway, yeah Super Mario World looked great, and the graphics and sound on the SNES were a hojillion times better than the Genesis, but I just kept not getting one. It wasn't until I played Link to the Past that I had to have it.

I remember wanting to rent consoles but around here you started needing a credit card, and my family wasn't exactly well off and didn't have one. I had to live off of flea market finds, back when flea markets weren't all dreamers and overcharging.

Still a nice memory lol

[SpaceHarrier]

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii158/ayumifanatic/snesyellow.jpg

My SNES that I got in late '91, possibly early '92. Entire bottom half of the shell has yellowed.

[retroman]

I remember saving all the money i could get to buy it the day it came out, and for a 12 year old at the time, it was hard to save...I got mine at Babbage's along with F-zero..I also remember going home and calling everyone i knew to tell them what i got and know one believed me until they saw it.

[buzz_n64]

I remember playing Super Mario World in stores all the time, then later playing other titles in stores as well. I had to let my NES and Super Mario Bros. 3 keep me entertained until I finally got a SNES in 1994 when Donkey Kong Country came out. I also got Sparkster, those were my first two SNES games.

[VG_Maniac]

SNES was, is, and always will be my favorite system. If I were to make a personal top 100 games list, probably more than half of the games on that list would be SNES games. I just can't believe it's been 20 years. It seems like it was just a couple of years ago that the SNES turned 10...and now it's 20.

I still remember the first time I found out about the SNES. My family got the 1991 Sears Christmas catalog in the mail (they would send those out to people in August) and as usual, I flipped straight to the game section as soon as I got my hands on it...and there it was: the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with Super Mario World. Why explain it to you when I can just show you? I happen to still have that same catalog after 20 years. Behold, the first time I ever laid eyes on the Super Nintendo:




http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j110/iluvretro500/img008.jpg

[old man]

SNES was, is, and always will be my favorite system. If I were to make a personal top 100 games list, probably more than half of the games on that list would be SNES games. I just can't believe it's been 20 years. It seems like it was just a couple of years ago that the SNES turned 10...and now it's 20.

I still remember the first time I found out about the SNES. My family got the 1991 Sears Christmas catalog in the mail (they would send those out to people in August) and as usual, I flipped straight to the game section as soon as I got my hands on it...and there it was: the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with Super Mario World. Why explain it to you when I can just show you? I happen to still have that same catalog after 20 years. Behold, the first time I ever laid eyes on the Super Nintendo:




http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j110/iluvretro500/img008.jpg

Doood! I remember that page. I would look at it all the time, begging my mom to get me one. (Supa Dad came through that christmas) So many memories. It was so much fun obsessing over games back then. The amazing thing is that almost everything on that page is fun to play.

[spongerob]

^And look at the prices on them. I remember my mom telling me we couldn't get Mario Bros 2 because it was "around a hundred dollars". Well mom I've grown up and I call an epic level of BS.

[alec006]

20 years of yellowing lol...wow I never had one as a kid, but once I bought one about 6-7 years ago, I could see I would have enjoyed it a great deal.

I actually have one of the first runs of the system since it has the detachable SPU, makes it abit heaver than my friends she gave me but all the less kind of cool.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

I got my SNES in Feb. 2006 - I was born in 1992 and didn't even know the system existed until 2005 (lol). I discovered lots of fun games on the thing like SMW, Sim City, and Aerobiz Supersonic... and I also seem to remember how impressed I was with the sound capabilities.