In October 1977 the Atari 2600 was released and it was very successful. It sold thousands of video home computer systems (consoles) and had classic games. Some including:

1. Pacman
2. Asteroids
3. Space Invaders



The Atari Video Home Computer System

Now thats was the 2nd generation of video games. Very pixelated graphics, but revolutionary for its time. It was the first system to... Well, it was really THE FIRST VIDEO GAME SYSTEM! It had a top loading system in where you put the cartridges at the top of the system and you could see half of the cartridge from the outside of the console. Although the shape of it was very odd. The kids of today might mistake this for an air conditioner.

Now I am not here for my first article to tell you about the Atari 2600. Mostly because I wasn't around to experience the 2600. I am proud to be a 3rd generation video game kid... Well, I'm not a kid anymore. That's for sure. So getting back to my point. Today we are going to talk about none other than The Nintendo Entertainment System!



The NES Action Set with an orange Zapper Light Gun

The NES was launced in October of 1985, but I first got my NES for Hannukahh of 1987. When I got it, it was better than I even imagined. It came with Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt all on one cartridge and at the time, the idea of 2 games on one cartridge was just mind blowing. Also, the fact that you could point the Zapper at the screen and it would shoot where you wanted to was sick. I remember all of my friends already had an NES, so I had my expectations already. Another cool feature on the NES was the cartridge actually went FULLY into the system, unlike the Atari 2600.

Now getting the NES, was a bitch. You had to get up really early, then go to the nearest Nintendo Store (luckily I lived in New Jersey, so the New York City one was close) then you had to wait in line for one for about 2-4 hours, then you had to see if they actually had anymore ones in stock, then you had to wait in the checkout line for about 20 minutes, and then you were ready to go with your brand new NES! The kids of today are lucky. They have amazon and ebay. We had..... We HAD TOYS R US! :)



The New York City Nintendo World Store

Part of Nintendo's success came from one of the best- selling video games of all-time, which came with it. I'm talking about Super Mario Bros!

Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt Cover

This games just has the words NES written all over it. I mean come on? What do you think about when you hear the words NES?... Exactly. When you pop in the game, immidiately that classic music starts and goes a little something like this. Do, do, do, do, do, do.. Do! Do, do, do. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do..... Ok, you get the point. It was one of the first games to actually have secret cheats or places you could go to, but were hard to find. To this day, I have never gotten to the Minus World. I know how to, but I just can't seem to do it. Also, what I liked about this game was the Warp Zone. I mean, jumping from world to world is pretty sick. Don't you think so? I do.



The first Warp Zone

Now while America was getting blown away by the Nintendo Entertainment System, Japan was rocking it out with the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom for short.



The Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom)

When this came to America, it bombed, but let's see how it did in Japan. Now, I can't write you a 20 page report on the Famicom, maily because I'm an American. So here are the simmilarities and differences of the NES and the Famicom:

CARTRIDGES-

The Legend of Zelda Cartridge (Famicom)



The Legend of Zelda Cartridge (NES)

See the difference? Good. Let's move on.

So basically, if you grew up in America, Europe, or Asia during the 80's and 90's, chances are you had a certain version of The Nintendo Entertainment System. And if you still play today, there is absolutely NO shame in it. If you still have the NES, don't let it collect dust in your basement. Treasure it. Clean it. Play it. Show it to your kids. Show it to your family. Just share the joy you always had with it to everyone around you.
I'm Classicnickelodeon, thanks for reading.

So... How was that for a first article?