5 ms·

Former Nintendo employees reveal what it took to launch the NES

157 points by brandrick 11mo ago

ilt 11mo ago
Video on which this very small article is based on: https://youtu.be/f2WDfsiLiRA https://youtu.be/f2WDfsiLiRA
- Jeremy1026 11mo ago
  The article itself is just explaining what the video contains, and then embeds the video.
nlawalker 11mo ago
If this is interesting to you, I recommend the book Game Over by David Sheff.
- philistine 11mo ago
  Unfortunately, the legacy of David Sheff's Game Over is tarnished. He took shortcuts and got some important details wrong. An historian should find additional sources for the statements made in the book.
  - jmcgough 11mo ago
    Still much more accurate than some other books like Console Wars.
    - pachouli-please 11mo ago
      Would you say _Game Over_ is the best example of a book in this space/topic, despite the flaws?
      - philistine 11mo ago
        Nope. I'd go with anything from MIT. Racing The Beam and I Am Error were transcendental for me. Some stuff from Boss Fight books is absurdly good. Final Fantasy V immediately comes to mind.
cwillu 11mo ago
This should have [video] in the title
omosubi 11mo ago
I hate to be that guy, but is there a transcript or even ai summary of the video?
- JDazzle 11mo ago
  Youtube has a built-in transcript feature. You can find it in the video description
  - modeless 11mo ago
    Also a built in AI summary feature, if you subscribe to Gemini I guess
- yoricm 11mo ago
  I copy/pasted an AI summary (using Recall) of the video here: https://sharetext.io/42b482da https://sharetext.io/42b482da And the full transcript here: https://sharetext.io/d675f945 https://sharetext.io/d675f945
charcircuit 11mo ago
I can't stand localizers. The famicom didn't need to be completely redesigned in order for it to succeed. There was clear market success in Japan already, so they knew the software would be capable to sell systems. I feel like there are other strategies to get stores to stock the product that don't involve redesigning everything. For example they could give guarantees to purchase back unsold stock, and if the famicon failed in America they could ship the units back to Japan to sell them there. Also, revealing they were doing illegal price fixing with Sega is not surprising.
- empressplay 11mo ago
  After the video game crash, retailers (particularly department stores, where most major purchases were made in the 80s, usually on payment plans) were extremely resistant to stocking another console (and consumers were resistant to buying one -- they had been buying home computers like the Commodore 64 since the video game crash to better justify the expense.) The redesign was intended to position the NES more as a home video accessory and remove it from the tainted video game category, hence the front-loading (like a VCR) so that it could fit into an entertainment system / TV table. It may seem silly from a modern standpoint but it was all about perception, and it was what was needed to successfully 'reboot' the video game market in North America.
  - charcircuit 11mo ago
    Stores weren't stocking video game consoles in Japan either. I really don't think people would equate all video game consoles as being the same. Technology was moving fast at this time, and when a kid gets a taste of a game like Super Mario Bros, they will want the console since there is software they want to play with. There was practically a guarantee of market demand, and the software demoed well with American kids. I don't believe the perception was that much of an actual roadblock to shipping the famicom. I feel like if you were to ask kids if they wanted a NES because it looked like a VCR they would look at you funny. They would want it for the games.
    - 3836293648 11mo ago
excalibur 11mo ago
The article's mission was to summarize the most important and most interesting information in the video so I don't have to spend an hour and 45 minutes watching it. Since it failed to do so, it has no purpose.
- tobr 11mo ago
  Hardly. Its actual mission seems to be: ”A no-noise email roundup of all the must-read Nintendo news”. I’m sure it did exactly that for its reader. It might not the best article to submit to HN though.

157 points by brandrick 11mo ago

ilt 11mo ago

Video on which this very small article is based on: https://youtu.be/f2WDfsiLiRA https://youtu.be/f2WDfsiLiRA

Jeremy1026 11mo ago
The article itself is just explaining what the video contains, and then embeds the video.

nlawalker 11mo ago

If this is interesting to you, I recommend the book Game Over by David Sheff.

philistine 11mo ago
Unfortunately, the legacy of David Sheff's Game Over is tarnished. He took shortcuts and got some important details wrong. An historian should find additional sources for the statements made in the book.
- jmcgough 11mo ago
  Still much more accurate than some other books like Console Wars.
  - pachouli-please 11mo ago
    Would you say _Game Over_ is the best example of a book in this space/topic, despite the flaws?
    - philistine 11mo ago
      Nope. I'd go with anything from MIT. Racing The Beam and I Am Error were transcendental for me. Some stuff from Boss Fight books is absurdly good. Final Fantasy V immediately comes to mind.

cwillu 11mo ago

This should have [video] in the title

omosubi 11mo ago

I hate to be that guy, but is there a transcript or even ai summary of the video?

JDazzle 11mo ago
Youtube has a built-in transcript feature. You can find it in the video description
- modeless 11mo ago
  Also a built in AI summary feature, if you subscribe to Gemini I guess
yoricm 11mo ago
I copy/pasted an AI summary (using Recall) of the video here: https://sharetext.io/42b482da https://sharetext.io/42b482da And the full transcript here: https://sharetext.io/d675f945 https://sharetext.io/d675f945

charcircuit 11mo ago

I can't stand localizers. The famicom didn't need to be completely redesigned in order for it to succeed. There was clear market success in Japan already, so they knew the software would be capable to sell systems. I feel like there are other strategies to get stores to stock the product that don't involve redesigning everything. For example they could give guarantees to purchase back unsold stock, and if the famicon failed in America they could ship the units back to Japan to sell them there. Also, revealing they were doing illegal price fixing with Sega is not surprising.

empressplay 11mo ago
After the video game crash, retailers (particularly department stores, where most major purchases were made in the 80s, usually on payment plans) were extremely resistant to stocking another console (and consumers were resistant to buying one -- they had been buying home computers like the Commodore 64 since the video game crash to better justify the expense.) The redesign was intended to position the NES more as a home video accessory and remove it from the tainted video game category, hence the front-loading (like a VCR) so that it could fit into an entertainment system / TV table. It may seem silly from a modern standpoint but it was all about perception, and it was what was needed to successfully 'reboot' the video game market in North America.
- charcircuit 11mo ago
  Stores weren't stocking video game consoles in Japan either. I really don't think people would equate all video game consoles as being the same. Technology was moving fast at this time, and when a kid gets a taste of a game like Super Mario Bros, they will want the console since there is software they want to play with. There was practically a guarantee of market demand, and the software demoed well with American kids. I don't believe the perception was that much of an actual roadblock to shipping the famicom. I feel like if you were to ask kids if they wanted a NES because it looked like a VCR they would look at you funny. They would want it for the games.
  - 3836293648 11mo ago

excalibur 11mo ago

The article's mission was to summarize the most important and most interesting information in the video so I don't have to spend an hour and 45 minutes watching it. Since it failed to do so, it has no purpose.

tobr 11mo ago
Hardly. Its actual mission seems to be: ”A no-noise email roundup of all the must-read Nintendo news”. I’m sure it did exactly that for its reader. It might not the best article to submit to HN though.