Summary
The podcast episode of "Stuff You Should Know" discusses the history of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the hosts' personal experiences with video games. The episode explains how the video game market in North America crashed in 1983 due to poor quality games and parental concerns about the effects of video games on children. Nintendo saw an opportunity to enter the market and released the famicom in Japan in 1983, which was the predecessor to the NES. The head of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was a driving force behind the development of the NES, which was released in North America in 1985.
The NES had a revolutionary controller design with a directional pad and A and B buttons, and it was bundled with games like Donkey Kong and Popeye. The NES was a tough sell in North America due to the bad reputation of video games at the time, but Nintendo came up with a marketing strategy by introducing a robot named Rob, which could interact with the games and act as a Trojan Horse to get the consoles in the door. The NES became a huge success and revolutionized the gaming industry.
The success of Nintendo's NES system was due in part to their proprietary design, which only allowed officially licensed games to be played on their console. This helped them avoid the mistake made by Atari, who allowed bad games to flood their system. Nintendo's strict quality control and heavy-handed licensing practices allowed them to maintain control over their intellectual property and ensure that only high-quality games were released for their system.
The podcast hosts discuss classic video games from the NES era, including the Konami Code, Contra, Punch-Out, Tetris, Metroid, and Zelda. They also mention the popularity of sports games and the addictive nature of Tetris. The hosts reminisce about blowing into game cartridges to make them work, despite the fact that it was not actually helpful.
Finally, the hosts discuss the evolution of open-world games and the legacy of these classic video games. They also mention a correction from a listener regarding the difference between Nutter Butter cookies and Nutty Buddy bars. The hosts consider doing a follow-up episode on the music of Nintendo and tease the possibility of a future episode on famous toys. They encourage listeners to reach out via email to share their thoughts and feedback.
