# Famicom a.k.a Nintendo Entertainmet System turns 20 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515 "2003-07-14T23:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/1 "2003-07-14T23:57:06Z")
The dear Famicom, which would go on to be called the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES will be 20 years old on July 15th, 2003. Gamespy is doing a good weeklong article on it [here.](http://www.gamespy.com/articles/july03/famicom/) And for anyone who’s feeling the nostalgia, I present the [Ebay listing](http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?sacategory=3617&sosortproperty=3&ht=1&from=R3&satitle=nes&catref=C1&sosortorder=2) of NES’ for sale. And with that, I invite you to share your stories of your beloved NES memories. I remember getting the thing for christmas. Everything was in a styrofoam holder with a flimsy cardboard covering all around it. Looked like one big giant box of matches. One of my fondest memories is playing Track and Field with the Power Pad, one of the precursors to foot pad games that would lead to the godforsaken DDR. Me and my brother’s played that thing for hours, jumping and running in place to make our characters move. The only problem: We lived on the second story 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/2 "2003-07-15T02:22:24Z")
Has it been that long? Wow. Yeah, I remember that track and field game, I was particularly terrible at the sprint, though. Another favourite game of mine was the tennis one. We spent hours and hours playing that one, until the shape of the buttons were permanently marked on our thumbs :D. We didn’t have the Power Pad, but we had this duck shooting game where you could plug in the Game Gun and fire away at the TV. Contra, the original Donkey Kong, Ghostbusters and of course, Super Mario Brothers. Oh, the fun 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/3 "2003-07-15T02:25:14Z")
Oh man. I nearly forgot. Up, down, up down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B! ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/4 "2003-07-15T03:20:55Z")
The original Famicom was great! Especially how you could slot the controllers to the side of the console when it’s not in use. It should be a manditory feature for the next gen. of consoles 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/5 "2003-07-15T03:32:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mercutio \* > \*\*Oh man. I nearly forgot. > > Up, down, up down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B! \*\* No. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start. No 30 lives for you! ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/6 "2003-07-15T03:33:39Z")
::hangs his head in shame:: What do you want? I was like 5. Close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/7 "2003-07-15T04:38:30Z")
Ah, Kid Icarus, how I used to love thee… Used to? Hell, the last time I played it was less than a year ago. I’m going through “Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom” for the third or fourth time now. I still play Mario Brothers 2 and 3 occasionally. Those are games which, in my opinion, have NEVER been surpassed in pure enjoyment, and maybe never will. Contra I and II were staples of my life for many a year. I’ll admit to liking Q-bert and Marble Madness, but I’ll still be surprised if nobody laughs at one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Back\_Lot\_Brawl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Back\_Lot\_Brawl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Back_Lot_Brawl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/8 "2003-07-15T06:12:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > \*\*Has it been that long? Wow. > \*\* Well, it’s 20 years old in Japan. The NES didn’t debut in most of the U.S. till 1986, and didn’t start to really catch on till 1987, though. So it’s still three or so years till its 20th anniversary here. ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/9 "2003-07-15T06:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Back Lot Brawl \* > \*\*Well, it’s 20 years old in Japan. The NES didn’t debut in most of the U.S. till 1986, and didn’t start to really catch on till 1987, though. So it’s still three or so years till its 20th anniversary here. \*\* Yeah, which is why I said Famicom. Same thing, though. Those wacky japanese. Eitherway, when the Famicom was released to the public, it ushered in an entire new era. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/10 "2003-07-15T06:26:47Z")
I believe the NES was released in the U.S. in October, 1985. I still have mine hooked up to the TV. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/11 "2003-07-15T11:46:32Z")
I… _sniff_ still have my… _meep_ original Legend of Zelda _Waaaaaaaaaaah!!!_ Memories Too bad Nintendo has gone to pot, though. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/12 "2003-07-15T12:56:01Z")
I found some simulations that are free to download. I downloaded Blades of Steel and it was just bizzare. Awesome nostalgia though. Of course, Intellivision warmed me up for Nintendo. Who could forget Nintendo’s Tecmo Bowl? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/13 "2003-07-15T13:04:47Z")
Kid Icarus was tough, but not as tough as Ghosts and Goblins. And Karnov was more funner. My brother runs a game-review newsletter and Web site. He still has the old NES, plus the old 8-bit, five or six Genesis machines, Colecovision, GameCube, XBox, and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/14 "2003-07-15T13:22:58Z")
blow, insert cartridge, push cartridge to side, repeat. And if you got pissed off after dying/losing, you could throw the controller in a fit of disgust and not have to worry about breaking it or whatever it hit. Try doing that with an Xbox paddle. [sub]This far in and no mention of Techmo Bowl?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/15 "2003-07-15T13:29:43Z")
[sub]or _Tecmo_ Bowl for that matter.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/16 "2003-07-15T14:57:17Z")
I remember visiting a cousin who had Nintendo in the summer of 1986. It seems strange…if NES was released in the US in fall '85, then it must have been as last as '86 before I saw it for the first time…for some reason, Nintendo had at this point failed to pentrate the awareness of my circle of 11/12 year old friends. I think I was vaguely aware of a video game system called Nintendo, but thought it wasn’t much of a step beyond Atari, which was completely “uncool” by that point. I guess marketing then wasn’t quite what it is today…perhaps Nickelodeon (the only channel I paid much attention to) was still non-commercial at that point in its history. I remember being completely blown away at the sight of Super Mario Bros. The jump in quality between Atari & Nintendo was tremendous…like nothing since. I had my own Nintendo by the following Christmas. And I still have it…but it’s in a box in my storage space…hopefully it’ll still work when I reconnect it someday. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/17 "2003-07-15T15:03:40Z")
I remember when my brother went entirely through Super Mario Brothers I on a single life. My siblings wanted the Nintendo and wanted me to help contribute to it. Being a teenage girl, I didn’t want to be known as someone who played that geeky game system, but I contributed about a quarter of the funds. Little did I know I would end up just as hooked as they were. I specifically remember playing SMB, that duck hunting game with the orange gun and renting Sim City. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/18 "2003-07-15T15:05:09Z")
And to show how much I’ve changed since then, I’m currently downloading the Tron MP demo and the 600 MB Half-Life 2 movie from Fileplanet. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/19 "2003-07-15T18:16:47Z")
We were an Intellevision family for the first wave of consoles. It’s weird how time warps, because it seems like SO much time passed between the Intellevision and when I got the NES; the Intellevision was when I was ‘much younger’, and the NES was when I was ‘a lot older’, but really, when I stop to think about it, they were only seperated by a small handful of years. Anyway, I got my first job when I was 16, and the NES was one of the first somewhat significant purchases I made with my own money. I remember it as being kind of a whim. I hadn’t sat around and thought about it a whole lot; I just got home with a paycheck, saw my bank account was a decent size, and thought I should go treat myself. So I went to the Luskin’s in Randallstown, MD., a local electronics chain (are they even still around?), and got myself the system and one other game. I don’t remember what the other game was. I do know that I spent most of the system’s life playing Super Mario Brothers. What a great game. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515/20 "2003-07-15T19:29:42Z")
One of my childhood memories is going up to the counter at K B Toys, and plunking down $106.99 in exact change for my very own Nintendo. Mom said I was allowed to have one, but she wouldn’t pay a cent for it. I had to earn every bit of it. In an interesting twist of fate, I ended up passing it down to the very family I babysitted for to buy it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famicom-a-k-a-nintendo-entertainmet-system-turns-20/188515.md?page=2)