View Full Version : Great Article on SMB's Release Date
pacmanhat
03-29-2012, 06:58 PM
Read it! (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/167392/sad_but_true_we_cant_prove_when_.php?page=1)
Long story short - it appears that no one knows exactly when Super Mario Bros. came out. Having said that, I feel like someone here may have some solid evidence.
ubersaurus
03-29-2012, 07:07 PM
TheRedEye (Frank Cifaldi) knows damn near everyone of note in the collecting community, so it wouldn't shock me if he's already gone through that particular resource.
Rickstilwell1
03-29-2012, 07:14 PM
I posted a topic on Atariage that nobody knows the answer to: what is the most accurate website regarding release dates for old video games. IGN? Wikipedia? Gamefaqs?
IGN has actual dates for Atari 2600 releases while most other sites do not. I don't know if these are fabricated or guessed.
Wikipedia has dates for Playstation, NES, Genesis etc. that sound more correct than their IGN counterparts. Sonic 2 was pushed to be released for Christmas '92 and Wikipedia has it listed as a date in late December. But IGN has it listed for January 1993.
Gamefaqs is usually just way off, only usually showing the release year rather than the full date.
Wikipedia also has the advantage of showing release dates that vary across different regions, which is also very helpful.
I'm confused. "Nobody" knows the release date? Nintendo of America lists October 1985 as their date on record. It's right in their PDF.
Are you telling me someone wrote a "3 page" (using the term loosely since they padded it with ads and spread it on three pages) article when the answer has been publicly available for years? :D
I just read the article and I see they did mention that Nintendo has claimed the release date, but they question it for no real reason.
I did enjoy seeing the Macy's ad. New NES games for $25-30? Great prices!
theclaw
03-29-2012, 11:40 PM
The actual date it was available on shelves for general purchase, is what we're not sure of. October 1985 implies a 31 day range on its own.
chrisbid
03-30-2012, 03:28 PM
great article
its a shame a company like nintendo that pretends to take great pride in its lore and legend doesnt have much documentation of its real history
i have a question
When was the nationwide release?
TonyTheTiger
03-30-2012, 03:46 PM
The actual date it was available on shelves for general purchase, is what we're not sure of. October 1985 implies a 31 day range on its own.
Were there "official" release dates back then? I somewhat doubt the draconian street date enforcement of today was in such strong effect in the 80s. It might not be all that practical to think of a game's release in terms of a single day. The initial shipping date might be more helpful in that case. You could just extrapolate that after day X the game would be on a some shelf somewhere two or three days later. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a fairly common story for a lot of games, not actually knowing the official release date. Super Mario Bros. is just one very high profile game that gets attention for it.
Clownzilla
03-30-2012, 04:40 PM
Anybody hear of the advertised NES release game Heli Fighter? It was in that referenced Wisconsin newspaper article but I can't find any info that it even existed in development.
TheRedEye
04-01-2012, 03:50 AM
Anybody hear of the advertised NES release game Heli Fighter? It was in that referenced Wisconsin newspaper article but I can't find any info that it even existed in development.
I have an advertisement for the Vs. version but there's no info other than the name. Same ad has another mystery game that didn't happen, Vs. Football.
Helifighter was more than likely based on Heli Fire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heli_Fire
Sorry you feel I wasted your time with this article Zing. You go right on believing that date, Nintendo has never been wrong about its history before!
Kevincal
04-01-2012, 11:47 AM
maybe to find out the exact date find a place that archives not only newspapers but sales advertisements included with the sunday paper for instance. surely toys r us would have been all over the smb release. Good way to narrow it down. or maybe someone on ebay is selling a paper from 1985.
better yet im sure theres plenty of people out there who got smb the day it was released and still have their receipt
quick search on youtube found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBSvwbc5mc read the video description, October 18th 1985 is the date given.
wait never mind rereading the description doesnt narrow down the particular smb date as it says offical nationwide usa nes release wasnt until feb 1986.
TonyTheTiger
04-01-2012, 12:24 PM
better yet im sure theres plenty of people out there who got smb the day it was released and still have their receipt
Unfortunately, most receipts don't hold their ink very well. Unless they're stored with extreme care (maybe not even then) they'll fade to the point of illegibility.
Rickstilwell1
04-01-2012, 07:41 PM
maybe to find out the exact date find a place that archives not only newspapers but sales advertisements included with the sunday paper for instance. surely toys r us would have been all over the smb release. Good way to narrow it down. or maybe someone on ebay is selling a paper from 1985.
better yet im sure theres plenty of people out there who got smb the day it was released and still have their receipt
quick search on youtube found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBSvwbc5mc read the video description, October 18th 1985 is the date given.
wait never mind rereading the description doesnt narrow down the particular smb date as it says offical nationwide usa nes release wasnt until feb 1986.
Hey as long as it was sold in a store somewhere, I figure that test launch counts.
goatdan
04-04-2012, 11:32 PM
better yet im sure theres plenty of people out there who got smb the day it was released and still have their receipt
It's amazing how different we can think about things 25 years later. Now, it would be practically impossible for us to have something like Super Mario Bros come out and for us to not document it 100 different ways, even if it wasn't a big deal. But, in 1985, things were different. Release dates weren't celebrated -- I vividly remember some of the local game stores telling you the week they expected to get a game, not the specific date because often, they just got the games. Their shipments weren't huge, and most of the time they were never positive of what they would get until it arrived.
The launch of the NES wasn't a big blowout celebration or something like that. In fact, until the Dreamcast sort of rewrote the rules, launch dates weren't that big of a deal. Sega made the Dreamcast launch HUGE, and everyone else has followed thanks to the TONS AND TONS of press that it got. It changed the game.
Frank, if you read this, have you found the follow up articles that the guy from the Journal said that he would be writing? He mentioned a follow up on the system on October 19th (implying either the 18th or 19th date would be the correct release date for the console), and then the week after that he would write about the games available. If not, I might be able to check at the local library if they have Microfilm of the Journal from back then -- it's my local paper. I feel like those follow up articles could minimally be a really interesting historical look back at the release of the console...
Kevincal
04-05-2012, 12:19 AM
Actually the Saturn and PS1 hyped the heck out of their launches, launch dates, Saturnday september 2nd and 9/9/95 for the ps1, everyone knows saturn launched way early at E3 but the ps1 stuck to its launch date, I got on on launch day, preordered it any everything. :) N64 launch day was a huge deal as well that system had been delayed so much people were insanely eager to get mario 64. myself included! got that one on launch day too! great times..
goatdan
04-05-2012, 12:25 AM
Don't get me wrong -- the earlier launch dates were covered, but nothing was to the extent it was until the Dreamcast came along and rewrote the rules. There weren't lines everywhere to get the consoles, it was sort of a "Hey, Ridge Racer is out... oh yeah, for a new console."
No one was waiting in line for hours to pick up the first NES. It wasn't nearly the industry that it is today.
DreamTR
04-05-2012, 12:40 AM
Mario and the NES weren't released nationwide in 1985 either...most places didn't even get the system and games until 1986. I lived in Florida at the time and the earliest anyone had heard/talked about the NES was late 1986 with all the ads for the ROB system on TV and NOW YOU ARE PLAYING WITH POWER. The system took off like crazy right before the Zelda Launch and then blew up when Metroid/Kid Icaruse and cool stuff like Double Dribble all came out right before Christmas of 1987...I distinctively remember buying Kid Icarus and Zelda in Christmas of 1987 and went crazy looking for freaking Zelda II Christmas of 1988.
goatdan
04-05-2012, 11:18 AM
Mario and the NES weren't released nationwide in 1985 either...most places didn't even get the system and games until 1986. I lived in Florida at the time and the earliest anyone had heard/talked about the NES was late 1986 with all the ads for the ROB system on TV and NOW YOU ARE PLAYING WITH POWER.
Yeah -- I have to say that I'm impressed with the local paper carrying an article on the NES before the test market launches of the system. The local paper has always been pretty good with technology, but it is really fascinating to see articles and whatnot constantly pointing to it as one of the biggest sources of real information about when Super Mario Bros was released.
I was too young to read at that time, but I remember loving the green sheet (which was actually green in color) as a kid.