That's pretty irrelevant. Nintendo's, and everybody else's, on making game/system launch dates a big thing is meant to drive the hype machine, but this tactic wasn't as widely used back then (for one, there's no evidence there was an enforced "street date," stores just sold the merchandise when they got it).Originally Posted by Anthony1
Nintendo Launches New Super System
GEORGE TIBBITS
649 words
2 June 1991
The Associated Press
English
(Copyright 1991. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
SEATTLE (AP) - Video game giant Nintendo says its long-awaited super game system will hit the U.S. market by Sept. 1, and it expects hard-core game players to buy 2 million of the new machines this year.
That's great, its competition says.
"I think it helps us a lot," says Tom Kalinske, president and chief executive officer of Sega of America, which brought out its Genesis enhanced video game system two years ago. "I think they now, obviously, are playing catchup."
Nintendo of America formally introduced its Super Nintendo Entertainment System during the weekend at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. The 16-bit machines offer far better graphics, sound and action than Nintendo's current 8-bit models.
The Super NES will be priced at $199.95, with games priced around $50. Nintendo's first game for the new system will be "Super Mario World," yet another installment of the travails of its mustachioed hero, Mario.
"I think initially it's going to be a big success because Nintendo has a brand name that is synonymous with terrific video games," said Paul Valentine, analyst with Standard & Poor's Corp. in New York.
Valentine thinks the saturation point for video game systems has been reached, though he likes the long-term prospects for hand-held games. Still, "There is a hard-core group of Nintendo addicts who are going to initially go out and buy this system."
But Peter Main, Nintendo's vice president of marketing, said the company isn't abandoning the older system, which is in a third of all U.S. homes.
Main said Nintendo expects to sell 6 million games for the Super NES this year, with retail hardware and software sales totaling $700 million.
The company forecasts selling 4.5 million of its 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment Systems, compared with 7.2 million in 1990, and 45 million NES games, down from 60 million last year. It also anticipates selling 5 million Game Boy hand-held players, 1.8 million more than in 1990, and 25 million units of Game Boy software, compared with 9 million last year.
Even with the new device, NES and Game Boy will make up more than 76 percent of Nintendo's second-half 1991 sales, Main said.
A bit is a piece of computer data. A 16-bit machine can process more data quicker than an 8-bit, permitting more elaborate games.
Japan's Nintendo Ltd. dominates the video game industry, with more than 85 percent of the total U.S. market. But it lagged in introducing a 16-bit game system, even though Sega and NEC brought their 16-bit machines out in 1989.
"You never like to be second or third, but you do like to be right," Main said in a telephone interview from Chicago.
Main said Nintendo fundamentally completed the hardware for the new system two years ago, but company executives weren't satisfied with the games, and sent the system back for more work.
In previous interviews, Main also said Nintendo didn't want to bring out the new system while demand remained high for the older machines. Nintendo's 8-bit games can't be played on the new 16-bit device, and vice versa.
Main downplayed the game compatibility issue. The electronics to permit 8-bit games to be played on the new set would add another $40 or so to its cost, he said, and Nintendo anticipates most of its sales will be to people who already have the 8-bit machine.
Nintendo will continue to develop new games exclusively for the 8-bit NES, he said, with 40 new titles to be brought out this year.
Sega recently dropped the price of Genesis to $149.99, while NEC has lowered the price of its system to $99.99.
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BUSINESS
NINTENDO GAMBLES WITH `SUPER' NEW GAME
TIMES STAFF: TIMES NEWS SERVICES
986 words
2 June 1991
The Seattle Times
FINAL
E1
English
(Copyright 1991)
Nintendo took a big step - and a big gamble - in the video-game business yesterday, formally rolling out its new super game system at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.
The new game, based on 16-bit technology that allows improved graphics, sound and dizzying speed, runs the risk of making obsolete the existing 8-bit games in the homes of 28 million people.
And it comes at a time where there appears to be a waning of interest of young people in the video games and growing resistance to the games by parents.
But there was none of that gloom yesterday as Nintendo, whose U.S. headquarters is in Redmond, made the announcement. At the same time, it said its sales remained strong, boosted by consistent sales of the existing Nintendo system and portable video games such as Game Boy.
"We are excited about the arrival of the Super NES," said Peter Main, the company's vice president for marketing, "but what we're equally excited about is the added strength this product gives to Nintendo's three-product line-up."
For the first half of the year, the company reported retail sales of 1.5 million units of video-game machines and 15 million units of software, or games. At the beginning of 1991, Nintendo had projected retail sales of 4.5 million units of hardware and 45 million pieces of software.
Main said the company expects the new super game to be a niche product, which will appeal to a defined market.
Expected to be on retailer shelves by September, the Super NES is projected to sell 2 million units of hardware and 6 million units of software by year-end 1991, main said.
But old games won't work on the new system, so the company is counting on parents writing off what they've already spent on the older games and hardware and shelling out $199.95 for the new Super, plus $60 for each game.
The existing system probably cost parents about $100 each, plus $35 for each game.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Nintendo plans to spend $25 million this year on advertising for the new super game. It has been running new product teasers for months in Nintendo Power, the company sponsored magazine that reaches an estimated 2 million readers.
Nintendo competitors did not allow the company to introduce its game without comment.
Sega of America Inc., another game manufacturer, said from its South San Francisco headquarters that "if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Nintendo is paying Sega of America Inc. the biggest compliment of all, by following in Sega's footsteps."
Sega said it established the 16-bit video-game category in 1989 with its Genesis system and Nintendo now is playing "follow the leader" with the unveiling of the Nintendo Super NES.
As Nintendo debuted its new game, another potentially landmark announcement was made that promises to have a major long-term impact on the home-electronics business. Sony Corp. said it will join forces with Nintendo in marketing a new type of video-game system.
The alliance links two of the world's most successful and innovative consumer electronics companies in an effort to popularize home entertainment systems based on compact discs. Such machines provide far better graphics and sound quality than current video-game systems, and analysts say they could form the basis for a new breed of "multimedia" computers for the home.
The Sony-Nintendo agreement promises to steal much of the thunder from Philips, which is unveiling its long-awaited Compact Disc Interactive (CDI), a home entertainment and education system.
Philips and Sony had once been allies in the development of CDI, but Sony now appears to be going its own way. Philips, for its part, has recognized that games will be an important selling point for the CDI technology. The Netherlands-based company reportedly has reached an agreement of its own with Nintendo to make Nintendo game titles available on CDI discs.
But the Sony-Nintendo deal is much more far-reaching.
By year-end in Japan and the beginning of next year in the United States, Sony will introduce a compact disc-based game machine, called the Play Station, that will also be able to play the new super Nintendo games, the ones written for Nintendo's own new, high-powered machine.
Simultaneously, Sony will roll out at least 10 compact-disc games - most of them based on characters and themes drawn from movies being produced by Sony's Columbia Pictures affiliates and music being promoted by Sony's record company, formerly CBS Records.
Nintendo controls an estimated 80 percent of the $5 billion U.S. video-game business. Sales of Nintendo machines and game cartridges are largely driven by the popularity of characters such as mustachioed Mario, of Super Mario Brothers fame.
But the Nintendo juggernaut has slowed recently, and analysts have wondered whether consumers would be persuaded to buy the company's new machine.
CDI, the similar CDTV being marketed by Commodore International, and the Sony-Nintendo format are not technically compatible; as in home computing and videotape technology, that raises the prospect of a prolonged battle to establish an industry standard.
Such a contest would be significant, because these systems may form the basis for a new breed of home computer-entertainment systems that has much of the functionality of a personal computer and can also handle video and sound.
PHOTO: ILLUSTRATION; Caption: 1) BARRY WONG / SEATTLE TIMES 1989: WILLIAM WHITE JR., LEFT, NINTENDO'S DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, AND PETER MAIN, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, HAVE HELPED LEAD NINTENDO TO SUCCESS THE PAST FEW YEARS. THEY FACE A STRONG CHALLENGE WITH THE NEW SUPER SYSTEM. 2) NINTENDO: SUPER MARIO MAY BECOME OBSOLETE WITH NINTENDO'S NEW SUPER SYSTEM.
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BUSINESS
Super Nintendo sells quickly at OC outlets
Ron Campbell:The Orange County Register
484 words
27 August 1991
The Orange County Register
MORNING
d03
English
Copyright (c) 1991 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Last weekend, months after video-game addicts started calling, Dave Adams finally was able to sell them what they craved: Super Nintendo.
Adams, manager of Babbages in South Coast Plaza, got 32 of the $199.95 systems Friday. By Monday afternoon he had five left.
"Everybody that calls up (to see if they're in stock) seems to hop in their car and come down to get one," he said. "I expected to blow them all out the first day."
Nearly one-third of all American homes have Nintendo systems, according to the company. The last big-selling Nintendo game, Super Mario Brothers III, grossed $450 million at $49.95 a set.
Super Nintendo features greatly improved graphics and color because of its 16-bit microprocessor. Until now the video giant had sold only eight-bit systems, leaving the more sophisticated machines to competitors Genesis and Sega of America. The new system offers 256 colors at once, 16 times more than the old system.
Nintendo is getting into the 16-bit arena late. It continued to push its eight-bit system while Sega of America and NEC Technologies surrendered that market and started selling 16-bit systems earlier this year.
At Software Etc. in the Mall of Orange, manager Don Leon was counting the minutes until his shipment of Super Nintendos arrived. He had ordered eight and already had reservations for most of them. He takes reservations only for particularly hot items, he said.
Super Nintendo began showing up in Southern California stores Wednesday, nearly three weeks before the official Sept. 9 release date.
"The people that really wanted to get it right away knew it was out," Adams said. "People have been calling for months on this thing."
The Toys R Us store in Cerritos got 80 on Wednesday and was down to a handful Monday afternoon, a store spokeswoman said.
Answering players' questions Q. Where is the 16-bit Super Nintendo available? A. Until the official nationwide release Sept. 9, availability will be limited. Toys R Us and some smaller distributors had it early. Nintendo says Kmart, Target and FAO Schwarz will have it.
Q. Can you play games from the eight-bit Nintendo system on the new 16-bit system? A. No. Nintendo says it will continue to supply games especially for the eight-bit machines.
Q. What games are available for the 16-bit system? A. Nintendo is packaging "Super Mario World," the fourth game involving the mustachioed video hero, with Super Nintendo. Two other games, a flight simulator called "Pilotwings" and a "space-age racing game" called "F-Zero" are available for $49.95 each. Nintendo intends to offer two more games in October _ "Sim City," a city planning game, and "Super Play Action Football." A sixth game, "Zelda III," will be available by Christmas.
Sony, we will NEVER forget nor forgive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G0LlXv-nyI
Thanks for those very informative articles poloplayr. That pretty much confirms it. It appears that SNES systems started arriving as early as Wednesday August 21st, 1991. Most outlets got their shipments on Friday, August 23rd 1991. So it appears with the SNES, that it didn't have a carved in stone release date, but the earliest known account of SNES systems arriving for sale was Wednesday August 21st 1991, so far all intents and purposes, I think we can safely say that was the launch date. Now if we could just notify Wikipedia so they could stop the mis-information with their incorrect August 13th release date.
I updated the Wikipedia entry for the SNES with August 21, 1991 as the date first available (and Sept. 9 as the official launch date). We'll see if it sticks, if someone reverts the edit might have to get into the talk page for the entry and cite the articles poloplayr listed.
I'm glad I didn't pull that 9/9/91 out of my arse. I like the "fact" that three systems launched on the same date.
I don't want you to hate me, I want you to want to hate me - GamersUniteMagazine.com
I don't know about that. Nintendo does have a thing for Sunday releases. Nintendo DS, DS Lite, Super Mario DS, Pokemon Emerald, just to name a few from recent memory. I'm not claiming that is was a Sunday launch, but they have been known for it.
And it is possible to get something in shipment before the item is supposed to be released. Ever heard of a street date?
If that weren't the case then why was my store sitting on a couple hundred copies of Halo 2, Madden 2004/2005/2006, 40 PSPs, and about 30 X-box 360s (just to name a few) before certain dates? Poor shelf stocking skills? Or possibly because they got sent to the stores and we were told to sit on them until this date. That in no way invalidates the people that said the system was available earlier than late August though. It's entirely possible that someone also broke street date and was selling systems early. Happens all the time.
I think it was actually Sega CD, if you count that as a console. October 15, 1992 was the hyped launch date. I remember it sold out its initial shipment (I think it was 50k units) within 3 weeks, which was considered a big deal at the time. For a while there were no Sega CD units in stores as they waited for the second batch to arrive.
I knew i was right in my prediction...do i get a prize??
I knew i was right in my prediction...do i get a prize??
Well, technically, some stores got it as early as Wednesday, August 21st, so I guess one would have to consider August 21st, 1991 as the "true" launch date. Supposedly the official date was September 9th, but it ended up coming almost 3 weeks earlier. To be honest, I kinda question the September 9th thing, because I thought it was supposed to arrive the very first week of September, but who knows, maybe the September 9th date really was the official launch date, but it ended up launching 8-21-91.
Somebody mentioned the Sega CD as being the first system with a "real" launch date, and they thought it was in October, but I'm about 95 percent sure the Sega CD launched in November. I got mine the day it released at a Software ETC in Arden Fair mall in Sacramento, CA. I'm about 95 percent sure it was in November.
mm
October 15, 1992 is given as the US launch date on Segabase, Wikipedia, and answers.com. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing that in print at the time, too. Also, if you look up the release dates for Night Trap and other launch games, they all say October 15.
Sega had originally announced that it would come out in November, so maybe that's why you think it was November. But I know for a fact that it was sold out well before Thanksgiving, so for it to have been a November launch, it would've had to sell out almost immediately, which didn't happen.
You are under the assumption that shipments of new products arrive at the store on launch day. It would be difficult to coordinate shipments across the country so that every store gets them on the same day. Stores usually get stuff a few days or sometimes a week or more before launch date. They are under contract to not sell the item until the specified launch date. So even if a store gets a few units in before the launch date, the launch date still remains unchanged. They just aren't supposed to sell before then. So the Sunday launch someone else mentioned and the guy getting his SNES for is birthday on Aug 13 is still pausible.
I remember getting a call from EB games to come pick up my reserved copy of FFVIII a few days before the official launch date because they didn't want crowds of people clogging their little store.
actually, it's not possible. Back when the SNES launched, there wasn't a firm launch date, although some people claim September 9th, 1991 was the target launch date for the SNES. If you read this thread in it's entirety, then you would know that the very first SNES systems reached retail shelves on Wednesday, August 21st, 1991. Most retailers started receiving shipments on August 23rd, 1991, but a few retailers got it two days earlier on Wednesday. I bought mine on August 25th, because that was the first day any store in Sacramento had them.
This case has been closed, and August 21st, 1991 is the official "true" launchdate, until somebody can prove me otherwise.
You still haven't proved that it is August 21st, 1991 and until you do it's still possible.
actually, it's not possible. Back when the SNES launched, there wasn't a firm launch date, although some people claim September 9th, 1991 was the target launch date for the SNES. If you read this thread in it's entirety, then you would know that the very first SNES systems reached retail shelves on Wednesday, August 21st, 1991. Most retailers started receiving shipments on August 23rd, 1991, but a few retailers got it two days earlier on Wednesday. I bought mine on August 25th, because that was the first day any store in Sacramento had them.
This case has been closed, and August 21st, 1991 is the official "true" launchdate, until somebody can prove me otherwise.
I still think August 13th is still plausible.
"With Great Power Comes Great Responisibility"
Wanting to Collect full set of Super Nintendo Games as well as Dreamcast Games.
http://users.ign.com/collection/Lothars
According to a few usenet posts I found, it certainly didn't launch before the 21st, as they were commenting that stores got them on the 22nd or 23rd (for example). I would say that the 13th was not the date it was released.
<Evan_G> i keep my games in an inaccessable crate where i can't play them
'='
Then why the (oft-changed) topic title (currently "Official SNES launch date in US is......8/21/91)?
In those few examples. That only proves that it was out on the 22nd and 23rd; there could indeed have been instances of the SNES units arriving sooner than that.
Just to add a little fuel to the fire. Game Informer #113 cites September 9th, 1991 as the official launch date. There is a small blurb in the Classic GI section. I'm guessing they probably know what they are talking about, as they were making magazines when the system launched. I'm not implying that it wasn't accidently/intentionally released early in some places, but let's stick to facts instead of what we remember from our childhoods.
ok, are people arguing this just for the fuck of it or what? I mean, is this because some of you don't like me, and you're just trying to come up with anything possible to make me look incorrect? The whole reason I started this post, is simply because I wanted to know the "TRUE" date that the SNES was first available for sale in the United States.
PERIOD.
I was just trying to find out the fricking truth. I could care less which specific day was the "real" date, but I just wanted to know which date it was. Now, since the thread started, people started sharing various bits of information. If one considered things from a rational perspective, then they would be forced to come to the conclusion that the Super Nintendo was first sold in the U.S. on August 21st, 1991.
Here are 5 facts to share about this:
1. The November 1991 issue of EGM states that the Super Nintendo first began arriving in stores on Friday, August 23rd, 1991.
2. The Orange County Register - Ron Campbell - 27 August 1991 - "Last weekend, months after video-game addicts started calling, Dave Adams finally was able to sell them what they craved: Super Nintendo. Adams, manager of Babbages in South Coast Plaza, got 32 of the $199.95 systems Friday. By Monday afternoon he had five left. "
3. The Orange County Register - Ron Campbell- 27 August 1991 - Super Nintendo began showing up in Southern California stores Wednesday, nearly three weeks before the official Sept. 9 release date. "The people that really wanted to get it right away knew it was out," Adams said. "People have been calling for months on this thing." The Toys R Us store in Cerritos got 80 on Wednesday and was down to a handful Monday afternoon, a store spokeswoman said.
4. 2 usenet posts from August 1991 claim it released on the 22nd and 24th respectively.
usenet post about it being available on August 22:
http://tinyurl.com/h2gxq
usenet post from August 24th about its availability at Toys R Us:
http://tinyurl.com/mq922
5. I myself purchased my Super Nintendo on Sunday, August 25th, 1991, the first day I know of any retailer having it available in Sacramento, California
The most compelling information is from the article written by Ron Campbell of the Orange County Register dated August 27th, 1991. Mr. Campbell's 484 word article titled "Super Nintendo sells quickly at OC outlets" clearly explains that the Super Nintendo was launched the previous weekend in Southern California. He has a quote from Bob Adams, the manager of Babbages in South Coast Plaza, who got 32 of the $199.95 systems Friday. He also reported this:
" At Software Etc. in the Mall of Orange, manager Don Leon was counting the minutes until his shipment of Super Nintendos arrived. He had ordered eight and already had reservations for most of them. He takes reservations only for particularly hot items, he said.
Super Nintendo began showing up in Southern California stores Wednesday, nearly three weeks before the official Sept. 9 release date.
"The people that really wanted to get it right away knew it was out," Adams said. "People have been calling for months on this thing."
The Toys R Us store in Cerritos got 80 on Wednesday and was down to a handful Monday afternoon, a store spokeswoman said. "
And then there is the date in the EGM mag that claims that SNES systems first went for sale in the U.S. on Friday, August 23rd, 1991. I mean how many freaking sources do you need? The information clearly suggests that the SNES started arriving in stores the week of August 21st. The first stores got it on Wednesday, alot more got them on Friday, and in my neck of the woods, they went on sale that Sunday. So basically, starting with August 21st, they could have been sold any date after that, but the facts point to August 21st being the very FIRST DATE!!!!
PLEASE STOP THE MADDNESS!
Yeah, it's already been said that the "target" launch date was September 9th, 1991, but it released early. I'm not interested in the "target" launch date. I'm interested in the "actual" first day it was available for sale in the U.S.
As for sticking to the facts, I've provided a list of facts that support it coming out the week of August 21st, and that August 21st was the first known date that it was available for sale. Everything is pointing to that, and the only thing pointing against that is Wikipedia's incorrect date, and some dude remembering he got one on his birthday. If he indeed did get it on his birthday, then he got it on his birthday in August of 1992, not 1991. Or he got it a few weeks after his birthday if he did get it in 1991. Or maybe he simple isn't 100 percent clear when he got it.
I'm absolutely 100 percent clear when I got mine. It was Sunday, August 25th, and I remember it like the back of my hand, and I was 20 years old that day, not some little kid. August 25th was the first day it was available for sale at any stores in the Sacramento area. (At least all the stores I called)
GI doesn't know shit. They once stated that the 32x was never released in Japan, which is patently untrue.
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