ROX-TV looks back at some classic video game consoles from Magnavox Odyssey to Nintendo. We also list some of our favorite NES games, see if your favorite made the list.
Welcome back to the ROX-TV website. As always, we appreciate the returning readers and also the first timers who stop by as well. Tonight, we will be looking at a topic that is near and dear to my tiny black heart. Yes my friends, tonight we take a trip into the wonderful world of iconic video game consoles. If you were around in the 1970’s and 1980’s than you might recognize or even have played some of these absolute gems.
Perhaps you are a video game enthusiast who, although not born back in the day, have taken it upon yourself to hit rewind and play games of the past. Whatever the case maybe, I believe that the video game systems and the games of that era are important and worth remembering. If you don’t keep track of the past, you won’t know where you are or where you are going. Word to the wise. I must admit though, Nintendo was my favorite.
Why the Nintendo system and games? What about the other amazing game platforms like Commadore 64, Intellivison, and Atari? All in good times my friends. I also have those systems in my video game/console collection and they will be getting their proper due. I feel like starting with Nintendo because that was the system that hit right smack dab in my child hood. The NES systems started popping up in the mid to late eighties in my neighborhood and they would soon conquer all that came before and rightly so.
The Nintendo was a cut above the rest, the graphics were better, the games were more like actual games, compared to things that came before. Like for example, you think of Pong, Combat, etc…for Atari, shit was pretty basic. The tanks were basically colored squares, the planes were just odd looking narrow shapes, and Pong wasn’t shit except a moving piece consisting of a rectangle and a ball. Compared to the Nintendo games that were dropping, a lot of the Atari games and other systems looked like primitive cave paintings, where Nintendo was like a bound book of classical paintings.
Now, I must say upfront that I am biased towards the NES because that’s what I came up with. I’m sure everyone dissed the previous technology. The tic tac toe people were probably dissed by the board game set, the board game set was put down by Coleco, the Coleco people got broke off by Atari, Atari got served by Nintendo, and eventually, Nintendo would be slain by the Sega Genesis (16bit). And on and on it goes. Today games are so realistic that its almost like no game at all, just real life…only a tad bit off.
I speak for myself and probably others born in the late seventies and eighties, who viewed/view video games from that time as classic representations of entertainment. My biggest complaint of the newer systems and games is that they are “too real”, “too complicated”, and just don’t feel like “video games” to me. They seem like life simulators which are only a few clicks away from looking 100% real. I don’t like that. I think old school video games appealed to me because they simple, easy to learn, entertaining, and basically just enough of what you needed to enjoy yourself. Below is a basic run down of early consoles. I add them for history and context. But if you came here only for my Nintendo top 3 list, just skip the next part or keep reading. One way or another you will get there eventually.
Brief History of Video Game Consoles
#1. The Magnavox Odyssey
In 1972, the worlds first gaming system was released to the public. It was called “The Magnavox Odyssey” and was debuted on May 24th, 1972. This system would beat Atari’s Pong home console roll out by almost three years. I’ve never actually played this or even seen one in real life, but from the promotional videos released in 1972…you can get a feel for what this system had to offer. Minimal but for the time (1972) it was probably an amazing feat for those that had enough money to experience the system or know someone who did.
The system was designed by a guy named Ralph Baer. This version is called “the brown box” and is on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s Musuem of American History in Washington D.C.. The system ran on batteries and featured no sound. There were also “game overlays” that the players would attach to the television screen (transparent attachments which assisted with the visual representation, basically turning Pong into “tennis” by attaching a sheet with a tennis court outline, very high tech).
#2. Coleco Telstar Console
In 1976, a company named Coleco jumped into the race with their release of the “Coleco Telstar Console“. The company Coleco had an interesting history all on its own, before dropping a video game system. The company was founded in 1932 and was a leather company (Connecticut Leather Company aka Coleco). Around the late 1950’s the company dumped the leather scene and got involved with plastic products and moulding. It is said that by the 1960’s, the company was biggest manufacturer of above ground pools in the country. Fascinating…I guess.
If that jump wasn’t enough, apparently the company started screwing around with dirt bikes and snowmobile production, which nearly killed off the giant. In a bizarre twist of fate, they got into the video game business and created the “Telstar Console“. If you ask me, it sounds like this company had a major identity crisis on their hands. Pools, video games, dirt bikes, leather shoes, snowmobiles….like what the fuck man? What exactly would you say you do here? (thank you Office Space).
The Telstar Console was basically a rip off of Pong via 1976. There was some money to be made though and the company got a shot of much needed cash, after years of off the wall directions. Typical of success, the company went nuts and came out with nine different versions of the console and nearly went back bankrupt in 1978. The company, never one to make consistent good moves, got ahead of itself and eventually was forced to dump 22 Million Dollars worth of obsolete Telstar’s (one million units to be exact).
#3. Atari 2600
In October of 1977, the Atari 2600 is released for the very first time. It was two light years ahead of the previous systems and had an interesting feature of game “cartridges” as opposed to the games being built into the machine. It had a classic joystick which almost anyone alive today can still recognize (I hope anyway, otherwise I’m a lot older than I feel).
Apparently, there was a system called Fairchild Channel F which had this feature first, but it was Atari 2600 which is given the credit for popularizing the feature among video game players and the public (Fairchild Channel F system was sold for $169 dollars in 1976, which would equal $772.92 in the present day, no wonder it wasn’t a big seller. The business only sold about 350,000 units and eventually went out of business in 1983...forgotten largely).
#4 Intellivision
This titan of early video game lore was created and released on the market in 1979. Before going to the masses, there was a test release in Fresno, California. The first test had four games to chose from. Due to the success of the 1979 test run, it was released around the nation in 1980. The price was a whooping $299.00 dollars and its main rival was the Atari system.
The Intellivision gaming console would eventually go on to sell over three million units and would roll out some 125 games. When it came out, it was released with a game included called “Las Vegas Poker and Blackjack”. The system was certainly not the first console to compete with Atari, but was one of the first real challengers to the Atari crown. The system was developed by the electronic wing of Mattel, which its only focus was on electronic games. To add fuel to the fire, the company took out lots of adds which featured side by side comparisons with the Atari 2600. Things were getting personal.
At the time, the Intellivision also proclaimed that the system was the “closet thing to the real thing“. Maybe this was true back then, but obviously when compared to the systems of modern times, this console was raw and very rugged. All that mattered though was what was going down in 1979, and during that time, Intellivision was giving Atari a run for its money. By 1982, Intellivison had sold over two million consoles and had made Mattel $100,000,000 Dollars in profit.
#5 Atari strikes back with the Atari 5200
By the early 1980’s the video game race was in full swing. Atari was competing with Intellivision and needed an answer to the formidable foe. So, in November of 1982 Atari launched the 5200 model. Although it was plagued with design flaws, it also had some innovative features.
One in particular was the system would switch from tv to game automatically when turned on. Atari would base the model on previous existing Atari technology for better or for worse. The system featured four plug in ports for controllers, but lacked a keyboard which made compatibility between the other Atari console impossible. Nevertheless, they gave it all they could. Originally the console was dubbed “Atari Video System X”. The four controller plug in also set it apart from all other consoles who only had two.
In 1983, another version of the Atari 5200 was released, but with the standard plug ins for two controllers, instead of four. Overall, the general consensus was that the 5200 performed poorly on the markets of the time. The war for supremacy continued on.
#6 Nintendo Entertainment System
The system of my childhood and millions of others was released in America, Australia, and Europe in 1985 (although it had been released in Asia in 1983). The video game system became the best selling console of its time and helped bring about a video game resurgence following the crash of the market in 1983. Although I was too young to remember, the industry crashed between 1983 and 1985 (The market had been heavily saturated by then, many of the games being released were very poor in quality and a surge in interest for personal computers, all combined to crush the video game market in America).
The market had profit of 3.2 Billion Dollars in 1983 and dropped to 100 Million Dollars by 1985. This my friends is what they call a 97% drop in profits. The crash killed off a lot of companies and left the entire industry in doubt of long term viability. The NES system was designed to address the things that hurt the industry and led up to the crash. Released in 1985, that’s exactly what the console did.
It was like a shot of methamphetamine into the arm of the failing industry and it worked big time. By February of the following year, Nintendo released numerous games simultaneously including: 10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Mach Rider, Pinball, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew, and Super Mario Bros. As they often say, “the rest is history”.
ROX-TV’s Favorite 3 Nintendo Picks
#1. Friday the 13th
Released: February 1989
Modes: Single Player
Genre: Survival Horror
My number one favorite game on the Nintendo system would have to be “Friday the 13th”. Based on one of my most beloved movie series of the same name, “Friday the 13th” is my top pick. I suppose it’s kind of odd, that I would pick a game that I’ve never beaten, but here you have it. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the movie series or the game the story line is horror in nature and pretty much sticks to a basic format.
In almost all of the movies, there is a general theme of a bad guy named “Jason Vorhees” who drowned at summer camp in 1957. The summer camp is never the same and in the first movie, the mother of the drowned camper returns to the camp to exact revenge on the mindless camp counselors who are too busy playing grab-ass to do their jobs effectively. The camp shuts down, but opens again a few years later. Stop, rewind, repeat….for the most part. The new camp counselors are slowly picked off one by one, by what everyone thinks is “Jason” but as it turns out, it’s just his mom. If you ever want to stump someone on movie trivia, just ask them who the killer was in Friday the 13th part one, they always say “Jason” and they are always wrong.
Part 2 is pretty much the same formula, only the camp is now a “camp counselor” training type of situation, where counselors come to brush up on their skills for their summer camp jobs. This time around, Jason is the killer, and apparently never died at all. This goes against the grain as far as the first one is considered though, because if Jason never died, then his mom really fucked up big time. Also, why would Jason never just go home if he in fact was alive? Oh well, its a movie. Part 3 is a little off base, but returns to the general theme by Part 4. Part 5 follows the story kind of, with the star of part 4 winding up in a mental institution and thus the story line plays out.
Part 6 gets back to basics, only this time Tommy (kid from part 4 and 5) has dug up Jason to make sure “he’s dead”. A funny way to see if someone is dead I suppose? Dig up their dead corpse to see? Fucking brilliant. Anyway, Jason gets hit by lightning after being dug up, comes to life and on and on it goes. The movie series was turned into a video game for Nintendo and I got it eventually. Prior to owning it, we would rent the game at Carriage Plaza Video in the Swartz Creek 810.
For a 9 year old, this game was virtually impossible to beat, but the atmosphere was so encompassing and eerie that it was forever seared into my mind. I still own my Nintendo and this game today. I’ve still never beat it but I guess I’ve never really devoted the time to learn how. Instead I keep it in my own historical context: impossible to beat, interesting to play, and forever young. I consider it to be one of the better games for NES for my own personal reasons and I’m only assuming here, but I don’t think it was widely popular. Perhaps it could be considered a cult classic of the Nintendo world and I think that it is a fitting moniker. There aren’t many people that love this game, but the ones that do really do. I am one of them. It’s worth locating and owning (opinion).
#2 Bad News Baseball
Released: December 15th, 1989 Japan/1990 North America
Mode: Single player/multi player
Genre: Sports
Sometimes the best games are simple enough. What’s more basic than a baseball game for Nintendo? I’m not sure but this game is a cut above the rest for a couple of different reasons. The graphics were pretty decent. The game play was enjoyable, and the extras (minor details of the game) really made it my favorite sports game for the Nintendo gaming system.
My friends and I would play this game for hours at a time, sometimes for days or even weeks. This included after school as well as long sessions on the weekends. The game might have well been a babysitter, because with it going in the house, we weren’t going to get into any trouble. We just couldn’t peel ourselves away from this game. I would play this game, and eventually beat it many times (beating every team on the game, in one long sitting).
It was entertaining and probably the best sports game I ever encountered during my younger years. I still own this game and every now and then get it out for old times sake. I can’t endorse this game enough without repeating myself so I suggest you get ahold of a copy and see why it’s been such a long term favorite.
#3 Rygar
Released: 1987
Mode: Single Player
Genre: Action Adventure
This was another one of those games that seemed impossible to beat, but because the atmosphere of the game was so sprawling and “big” (as far as NES games went back then) that I couldn’t stay away from it. I got it for Christmas one year I think…. or at least that’s how I choose to remember it these days. Back in the old days, any game new or used was a treasure. Some of them cost like $50 bucks and acquiring new games was impossible because of the price. Many times, I just had to wait till the games fell out of favor and pick them up at garage sales for a fraction of their original price. There was no other way. Money was tight back in the day.
Rygar was an action game, set in some type of far-away land filled with odd monsters and other things. I would spend hours playing it although I don’t know if it was because I enjoyed the game and the endless maps, or it was just one of the only games I owned. Sometimes you had to make do with what you had in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s. Any way you cut it, the NES was a thousand times better than the Atari 2600, which my family still owned and operated. When that Nintendo came into the house, life was good.
Just like “Friday the 13th“, I never beat this game or even came close. It required a lot of item locating, and without the items, some boards were not possible to beat. As a kid, I didn’t fully understand that concept and would run into brick walls from time to time. I didn’t have what I needed to beat the board, and eventually did my earliest renditions of “wandering play”, similar to my current days of wandering around GTA San Andreas. Sometimes it’s not about the destination, and more about the journey.
The game seemed to be ahead of its time in some aspects and is the perfect way to waste a few days or weeks trying to beat. Like I said before, I’ve never beat it and I don’t think I’m meant too. Somethings are best kept the way they are….change is not always a good thing. Could I beat this game if I really applied myself? Sure…but where is the fun in that and if I did so, I’d have nothing to talk about. Rygar shall remain a mystery to me for the rest of my days and that’s ok.
Thats all the room I have for this one. Please keep coming back for odds and ends of weird shit to read and dig on. Thanks for spending some time with the thoughts in my head. Dedicated to those that are “Forever Young” in their hearts and minds….
Signing Off,
Mike Shepard
ROX-TV Head Writer
shepard2909@hotmail.com
