Happy 30th Birthday, 8-bit NES!
Today marks 30 years since the NES hit the market.
Didn't feel too long ago that it celebrated 20 years back in 2005.
My, how time flies. I guess I gotta play a little Mega Man II or something later on today.
Feel free to share any NES-related memories here in this topic. Damn does this make me feel old...
HBD to the nes/famicom,have plenty of fond memories for the console.Going from the likes of ninja gaiden,smb3,blaster master the console had it in spades when it came to it's library.
It's kinda sad that I didn't grow up to the NES, and the closest I ever got as a kid were those GBA multicarts I had as a kid, and I only got to touch and play Super Mario Bros. on a Famicom only last year. >.<
Well, time to change that I suppose. Time to grab a Famicom or a Famiclone when I go to Japan and play some classics.
Got mine for Christmas '87, the NES Action Set. Turned out my dad had been secretly getting it out after bedtime for two months beforehand, and had gotten rather good at Super Mario Bros.
Too many good memories, but here's one fun one. We'd rented The Legend of Zelda from a grocery store, and my brother and I were enamored. We used to pool our money we'd get from allowance/birthdays/rolling newspapers, and we had a decent chunk saved up in a pickle jar. We asked if we could go buy it, and so when we were at the store, we picked up what we thought was the correct game, but it turned out to be the new Zelda II! We were initially angry, as it just wasn't what we had in mind, but new games weren't something you got often back then. We stuck with it, and damned if it isn't by far my favorite in the series these days. It took awhile for me to appreciate how well-designed that game is, but it utterly rules, and I have that mistake to thank for it.
Happy Birthday Nintendo. Hard to believe I've been with them since Christmas of 85 but I got one the very first year along with two extra games Super Mario Bros and Hogans Alley. So much time was lost having fun with it over the years and then decades even as time marched on. It kept me happy and sane through a great many years growing up. Then it turned into a retro obsession in 95 which expanded to GB, SNES, and N64 getting weekly locally new goodies I could never all afford on a small allowance as a kid. I've owned half the library or more over time yet now I have less than 10% but I keep it, enjoy it, and my almost four year old loves Mario Kirby and I introduced her to the original Zelda days ago too. And one thing I didn't realize what the time I got married on its birthday too 8 years ago.
Awesome story! I've never really played Zelda II before... I have not explored NES' library anywhere near the extent I have the SNES. One day I hope to rectify that, but the saying "too many games so little time" rings true big time here, lol. One day though...Originally Posted by celerystalker
Let's all spend today thanking Nintendo for saving video games in 1985.
The Nes will always be one of my favorite systems. It was Nintendo at their best, having both worthwhile first party and third party games. It's just too bad that the system broke so easily(still the only console I ever had that broke down on me that I originally bought new). But it provided so many great video game memories.
ALL HAIL THE 1 2 P
Mine broke down too, but every single time it was some other damned kid being the cause of it, three times actually. At the third Nintendo told us they wouldn't repair it again on the phone because the costs would be cheaper getting a new one.The last one this five year old girl in this apartment we were in temporarily while a house was being finished being built back in 1989 decided it was a hot day and the Nintendo being on for awhile had gotten too warm. When we went out to do something outside, she went inside and took pity on it with an orange popsicle, to help it cool off and feel better. I almost went insane on her for that when I came back and it wouldn't work, then found it orange and sticky inside the game slot. Took 2 weeks to get it back too. :\ The thing was a tank, except when other people got careless or stupid. The worst was the flashing screen and placing the cart just right in there or having to clean them first, but it never died.
The only system that ever took a crap for me was the WiiU and their trashy huge update a little after a year it came out. They did this massive firmware upgrade and when I ran it, it broke the system. If I tried to fire up a game, click the menu to open other panels, or if I tried to access the system panel it locked up. They apologized and replaced the thing, it was an old shell with a few scuffs(which pissed me off as mine was spotless so I expect the same in return) with new guts and a new 1yr warranty. Another page in the book of why I hate systems with internal storage and upgrades to themselves or the games. They just should work and that's it, turn it on and play, not patch and pray.
My NES (Xmas 1988) still runs fine today, though it's been the backup one since my aunt gave me their old one years ago. That one received an NESRGB last year and this week I finally got around to finishing my Just Breed translated cart so I got to enjoy it a few hours.
I had good luck early on with mine. It was won from a local grocery store's grand opening promotional drawing. It was an action set with Mario/Duck hunt but also came with two Advantages, Zelda, and R.C. Pro-am. A couple years later while on vacation in Michigan my dad decided he'd take me to Toys R' Us and get a game for me. I blindly picked Mega Man 2 because the box art was cool.
I don't think I ever mentioned it, but believe it or not I actually had my 1985 launch system working in fine order up until the day I let it go. It was back on the 25th birthday year of the system I had been mass selling off the useless 300+ NES games I didn't want to store anymore, and this local came over with his son wanting a stack of cheap games I had because he remembered them as a kid and wanted to play them with his kid. I had the NES down on the main tv (was a 2 story condo) and I let them try all the games out for a little and the guy got to mentioning he was game and system shopping but wanted the games and paid. As they were leaving he started begging me to sell the system to him, I wasn't going to originally as he asked inside too. I saw how much the kid got into it and I had a top loader and NES TV upstairs so I let it go at his chosen price. The kid like flipped because he could go home with it, zapper, 2 controllers. I'm sure they had a lot of fun that day and the ones after. I still at times kind of wish I kept it, but I hadn't thought about it up until about a week ago when I bought my first system lot in 5 years (an NES) and now it's on my floor behind me and it reminded me of it.
Got mine in summer 1988 for my birthday, still have it and all the original components. It was the action set with grey zapper and SMB/DH. I got a box for it a few years ago, and it's in there for keeps. I got another one RGB modding recently, which is what I use. Also has the FM Mod.
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Got mine in 1988 and got John Elways QB as my first game, horrible first choice. Traded back to K-Mart for Bayou Billy instead, better game, better challenge, lasted me a little while before I started beating it like a red headed stepchild. Traded that game for SMB 2, my parents were furious. Eventually years back I got Bayou Billy again, still have SMB 2, and have since amassed 324 NES/FC games for the system. It's the system I have with the most games owned for it for a reason, it has stood the test of time, and gets played far more than my PS3, or Wii.
I was in third grade when NES launched nationwide in 1986, and in fifth grade in 1988 when I received my NES for Christmas.
It's the NES I still play to this day.
I have a small library of games, and the few CIB games (Castlevania II and III, Zelda II, TMNT II, Ninja Gaiden II, a few others) are those for which I'm the original owner, bestowed for birthdays and Christmas.
I blame my friend next door for getting an NES and getting me into gaming. Not even sure how old I was.
I didn't know how to hold the controller, I ended up holding it upside down and to this day....I still can't play NES games with the original controller holding it the right way.
I when I finally got one also got Metroid with it. talk about a jump off the deep end of a game to start with.
COMPLETED MY USA SMS SET!!!!
great stories guys reminds me of my first system (n64) but the nes was one of the first (2nd after snes) that I played my uncle owned one with mario and duck hunt
I can remember saving my money for what seemed like forever, and finally got my NES in 87. I think the first stand alone cart I bought was either Tiger Heli or Castlevania. Got both around the same time.
I got mine x-mas of 89 and it still works but I keep it in its box most of the time I put the wear and tear on other systems
I only have about 15 others...
cant believe its been that long but I guess I am as old as the system.
at PRGE the dj asked every one to sing happy birthday on the day of
Time flies when you're having fun. We got our NES for Christmas back in '87. I think it came with SMB & Duck Hunt. We also got Zelda II that Christmas. SMB didn't really do it for us since we had already been playing The Great Giana Sisters on the C64. The Great Giana Sisters was pretty much a copy of SMB but Zelda II was a huge hit in our household.
I expect to see a SNES thread next year for its 25th.
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