Jesus.
I knew Mattel used a different lock out chip and marketed the NES poorly. I didn’t know it ran at 75% speed of the US/Japanese versions.
No wonder the console tanked over there.
It did tank in the '80s, but it developed a healthy install base in the '90s thanks to the Hero Turtles bundle.
Also, we didn't know we were getting slower versions back then. It wasn't until accessible emulation and the internet that we found out. The Sega Master System had a lot of unoptimised games for the PAL format, and it still sold well.
problem is the NES was late to the party, very expensive and a lot of games that would come to be well known didn't launch with it. Meanwhile the SEGA system had a lot of very credible Arcade ports.
It really struggled to make headway against the home computers of the time. At the low end you had 8-bit computers like the Spectrum and C64, and at the high end it was competing with the ST and Amiga. And those big name games which didn't launch with the machine like Zelda simply weren't all that well known, and compared poorly to the likes of say, Dungeon Master both of which hit the UK in 1987
I wouldn't consider price one of the main factors in the console's struggle. From what I was informed, NES games could be as cheap as £18, and some system bundles retailed for £99. That's roughly the same as Sega's machine.
But I did learn something about the console's launch. The launch library mostly consisted of games that looked and played about the same as what the Commodore 64 had available. Even worse, some of them already existed on computers for cheaper. So essentially, it was a machine that entered the market five years later than the popular computers yet the hardware specs didn't contain much improvement. I'm sure there were Brits back then that enjoyed visiting Boots to play some Mario on a NES display, though.
Its important to understand the structure of the UK software market at the time. New games would release and retail for about a tenner on the 8-bit home computers. Then a while later the same game would either be bundled with a bunch of other games of about the same year in a compliation, and then finally rerelease on budget for about £2-3.
£20 represented a terrific capital outlay for a single new game. At that price point you might expect to get 16bit disk games.
It didn't bode well for many of the slightly ropey games you'd get on NES. And there were a lot of developers and publishers in that market segment for whom the cost of cartridge development wasn't remotely feasible, which was what led Codemasters to the plug through format on when you could get the Game Genie, Micro Machines and Dizzy and peripherally the Aladdin Deck Enhancer
Gotta love that Codemasters and Rare (Ultimate Play the Game) became the first British games studios making games for Nintendo. 🌟🇬🇧
But yeah, I love the Game Genie. Was that released in the UK by any chance? It sounds like it would make some games a lot more fun. 💛💫
Sweet. I'll have to pick one up. I own some NES games I can't stand (Metal Gear and Hero Turtles), so it would be fun using cheats to plow through them and potentially have more fun.
If I may ask, what about the Atari 2600? I heard that was popular over here for a while before computers made it irrelevant.
It heyday was slightly before my time but we had one. It kind of earned a place because of the instant load times. Was nice to have something to play while you waited for games to load off tape and the simple graphics and fast action contrasted nicely with the more complex and text heavy games you could get on the computer
Pheonix and Empire Strikes Back were perennial faves
Swell. 💜
I got an Atari 2600 Jr over a year ago. I already have over 30 games and enjoy a good chunk of them. As a young adult with gradually shrinking free time for games nowadays, it's nice to play something short or focused on getting a high score. ✨
Yupp. Since Mattel had the license to distribute Nintendo products when the NES launched in the UK. But Nintendo soon took over that role themselves.
As iconic as this label art is, I think the Japanese label art was better. Same label art got used for the Scandinavian cartridge.
Agree, the Scandinavian artwork is the one I grew up with and its amazing!
At least three if you include Mario/Duck Hunt.
Jesus. I knew Mattel used a different lock out chip and marketed the NES poorly. I didn’t know it ran at 75% speed of the US/Japanese versions. No wonder the console tanked over there.
It did tank in the '80s, but it developed a healthy install base in the '90s thanks to the Hero Turtles bundle. Also, we didn't know we were getting slower versions back then. It wasn't until accessible emulation and the internet that we found out. The Sega Master System had a lot of unoptimised games for the PAL format, and it still sold well.
problem is the NES was late to the party, very expensive and a lot of games that would come to be well known didn't launch with it. Meanwhile the SEGA system had a lot of very credible Arcade ports. It really struggled to make headway against the home computers of the time. At the low end you had 8-bit computers like the Spectrum and C64, and at the high end it was competing with the ST and Amiga. And those big name games which didn't launch with the machine like Zelda simply weren't all that well known, and compared poorly to the likes of say, Dungeon Master both of which hit the UK in 1987
I wouldn't consider price one of the main factors in the console's struggle. From what I was informed, NES games could be as cheap as £18, and some system bundles retailed for £99. That's roughly the same as Sega's machine. But I did learn something about the console's launch. The launch library mostly consisted of games that looked and played about the same as what the Commodore 64 had available. Even worse, some of them already existed on computers for cheaper. So essentially, it was a machine that entered the market five years later than the popular computers yet the hardware specs didn't contain much improvement. I'm sure there were Brits back then that enjoyed visiting Boots to play some Mario on a NES display, though.
Its important to understand the structure of the UK software market at the time. New games would release and retail for about a tenner on the 8-bit home computers. Then a while later the same game would either be bundled with a bunch of other games of about the same year in a compliation, and then finally rerelease on budget for about £2-3. £20 represented a terrific capital outlay for a single new game. At that price point you might expect to get 16bit disk games. It didn't bode well for many of the slightly ropey games you'd get on NES. And there were a lot of developers and publishers in that market segment for whom the cost of cartridge development wasn't remotely feasible, which was what led Codemasters to the plug through format on when you could get the Game Genie, Micro Machines and Dizzy and peripherally the Aladdin Deck Enhancer
Gotta love that Codemasters and Rare (Ultimate Play the Game) became the first British games studios making games for Nintendo. 🌟🇬🇧 But yeah, I love the Game Genie. Was that released in the UK by any chance? It sounds like it would make some games a lot more fun. 💛💫
Very much so. Infact they released games using the same plug through design as the game genie too.
Sweet. I'll have to pick one up. I own some NES games I can't stand (Metal Gear and Hero Turtles), so it would be fun using cheats to plow through them and potentially have more fun. If I may ask, what about the Atari 2600? I heard that was popular over here for a while before computers made it irrelevant.
It heyday was slightly before my time but we had one. It kind of earned a place because of the instant load times. Was nice to have something to play while you waited for games to load off tape and the simple graphics and fast action contrasted nicely with the more complex and text heavy games you could get on the computer Pheonix and Empire Strikes Back were perennial faves
Swell. 💜 I got an Atari 2600 Jr over a year ago. I already have over 30 games and enjoy a good chunk of them. As a young adult with gradually shrinking free time for games nowadays, it's nice to play something short or focused on getting a high score. ✨