The Nintendo effect
FANS CELEBRATE ITS RICH LEGACY IN GAMING
THERE are many videogame platforms for gamers to sink their teeth in. Some are fans of Sony and its PlayStation line of products while others prefer personal gaming computer. One particular name that crops up is Nintendo. That’s what the Malaysia Ninty Gathering 2016, organised by Azlil Shah from Kyo’s Game Mart and Iskandar ‘Zend’ Rahim from Zendersons Store was about. It was to pay tribute to Nintendo’s contribution to the gaming industry from the beginning until now.
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) debuted on July 15, 1983 in Japan but under a different name. It was known as the “Famicom” short for “Family Computer”, and it is an 8-bit videogame console. It is said that the console saved the gaming industry from the great videogame crash of 1983 by setting a new standard of game design. It means that having the Nintendo seal of approval meant that you have yourself a great game.
On the NES, Azlil Shah said: “It’s a popular gaming machine. It even had a knock-off version called the Micro Genius, which I used to have. It didn’t take long for me to move to the actual NES though.” Despite the knock-offs, the NES eventually sold 61.91 million units worldwide.
Moving into 16-bit technology, Nintendo created the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), also known as the Super Famicom in Japan. The SNES was released in November 1990 for Japan and August 1991 for countries outside of Japan. While the SNES did not receive as much success as its predecessor, it did become the bestselling console of the 16-bit era, with 49.1 million units sold worldwide.
Retro game fanatic Iskandar ‘Zend’ Rahim had this to say: “The SNES had a strong rival in Sega. The Sega Megadrive at that point was quite tough to beat. Sega marketed its console for the more mature audience which made the SNES seem childish in comparison. The SNES, however, had a solid videogame library in its hand, which is why many people chose that over anything else.”
Building from the NES and SNES momentum, Nintendo then created the Nintendo 64 which debuted in June 1996. This console saw Nintendo’s major franchises move into the 3D world, with Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda:
Ocarina of Time being one of the more notable ones. The Nintendo 64 went toeto-toe with the Sony PlayStation, citing that its cartridges have faster loading times compared to the newer compact disc technology used by its rival.
Azlil Shah was impressed by the Nintendo 64 controller’s analogue stick. “It was the first time we’ve ever seen an analogue stick in a controller as we’ve been accustomed to the D-pad (directional pad buttons). The D-pad was limited to four directions of movement but the analogue stick allows you to interact with a 3D environment in a much better way. It was so revolutionary that its design inspired other brands to do the same, and you can see it in the analogue sticks of the Xboxes and Playstations of today.”
Learning from its past mistake, Nintendo moved on to the Gamecube in September 2001. It is the first Nintendo console to utilise optical discs (miniDVDs) as its primary storage medium, with about 1.5GBs of storage in each disc. Despite the console’s odd shape, it was praised for its controller, which was designed to make the analogue sticks to not be placed oddly like its predecessor’s controller, as well as its high quality videogame library.
Nintendo fan and avid gamer Darren Goh had a blast with the Gamecube’s offerings:
“I remember Gamecube as the ultimate multiplayer console as there are a lot of multiplayer games such as Super Smash
Bros Melee, Mario Party and more. There were a lot of times where I’d just bring the Gamecube around to my friend’s or cousin’s house to play with them. It’s small so it’s easy to pack and unlike certain consoles, it didn’t need an add-on to have
more than 2 players.”
For the 7th generation console, Nintendo came up with Nintendo Wii in December 2006. Instead of focusing on hardware strength like its competitors, the Nintendo Wii focused on new features such as motion-sensing via its ‘Wiimote’ controller. The controller can pick up motion and rotation in three dimensions, and it even had a ‘Nunchuk’ accessory to further boost the motion-sensing capabilities.
Longtime gamer Syed Hassan commented on how the Wii changed his mindset on gaming:
“Gaming isn’t always seen as a healthy activity. You sit down for long hours in front of the TV and you’re not doing anything physically but the Wii changed that. It made gaming interactive by implementing movements. You’d be surprised how much you sweat just by playing Wii Tennis at home.”
Nintendo’s consoles have not been catching up with its rivals in terms of hardware strength lately but the games are very addictive. The Nintendo Wii is far weaker than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in terms of graphical prowess but it still managed to outsell both those consoles, and motion sensing-based games are new at that point in time.
In fact, the Wii paved the way for motion-based games with the VR-based HTC Vive’s motion controllers being somewhat reminiscent of the Wiimotes in the way it’s being handled. Nintendo’s bold nature has seen the company as well as the gaming industry through hard times, so let us hope that it will continue to do so for years to come.